Consensus Statement on the Management of Paediatric Asthma. Update 2007

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Seasons and other factors affecting the quality of life of asthmatic children.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of seasons on the health-related quality of life (HRQL) of asthmatic children. METHODS: Four groups of asthmatic children 7 to 14 years old were recruited by pediatricians during each season of the year. Their HRQL was assessed by means of the Paediatric Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire (PAQLQ). Other factors surveyed were asthma severity, atopy, medical treatment, immunotherapy, obesity, parental smoking, and anti-allergic measures. RESULTS: The mean (SD) overall PAQLQ score was highest in summer at 6.2 (1.0) and lowest in autumn at 5.5 (1.2). The same trend was found for domains in summer and autumn, respectively: symptoms, 6.2 (1.0) vs 5.4 (1.4); emotions, 6.5 (0.8) vs 6.0 (1.0); and activities, 5.9 (1.4) vs. 5.0 (1.5). Factors such as male gender (odds ratio [OR], 0.60; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.41-0.87), being on immunotherapy (OR, 0.59; 95% CI, 0.38-0.92), living in an urban environment (OR, 0.56; 0.33-0.93), and residing on the northern coast of Spain along the Bay of Biscay (OR, 0.56; 0.36-0.89) were independent protective factors against having a total PAQLQ score in the lower tertile. Conversely, being recruited in a primary care setting (OR, 1.55; 1.01-2.38) and having more severe asthma were risks for being in the lower tertile. CONCLUSIONS: Irrespective of the severity of the disease, season has a significant influence on the HRQL of asthmatic children.

Predicción de talla en deportistas / Height prediction in sportsmen

El médico de medicina del deporte debe familiarizarse con los métodos de predicción de la talla definitiva. Con frecuencia, nos encontramos ante niños que pretenden implicarse de una forma más intensa en la práctica de un deporte, al destacar en edades precoces en el mismo. Pero existe la duda razonable, si una constitución física y un desarrollo corporal aparentemente adecuado para la realización de dicho deporte durante el crecimiento, se mantendrán en un futuro, cuando éste niño haya concluido su desarrollo. La predicción de la talla definitiva puede ser un parámetro de excepcional importancia que responder a esta incógnita ayudándonos a evitar que el niño sufra un cúmulo de desilusiones y frustraciones cuando termine su crecimiento por no ser adecuado para alcanzar sus metas deportivas al haberse creado falsas expectativas durante el crecimiento.En éste artículo estudiamos los distintos métodos de predicción de talla más utilizados. Estos métodos presentan ciertas controversias cuando se aplican a situaciones variantes de la normalidad -retraso constitucional del crecimiento y retraso familiar del crecimiento, que son las más complicadas de discernir (AU)

[The behavior of FEV1 and PEFR in the free running test for the detection of exercise-induced asthma in childhood]. / Comportamiento del FEV1 y del PEFR en la prueba de carrera libre para la detección del asma inducida por ejercicio en la infancia.

OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to study the behavior and validity of PEFR and FEV1 in the free-running exercise test in order to diagnose exercise-induced asthma during childhood. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We studied 30 asthmatic children and 30 healthy children as controls. A provocation test was performed by means of free-running exercise in an indoor sports center. Environmental temperature and humidity were equal in both groups. Forced breathing spirometry and the "Mini-Wright peak flow meter" test were recorded before and two, five, fifteen and twenty minutes after the exercise challenge. The spirometric values representing two standard deviations below the mean for each variable studied in the control group were considered as reference values (FEV1 > or = 83.5% and PEFR > or = 81.5%). RESULTS: There was a decrease in FEV1 in 17 asthmatic children (56.7%) and a decrease in PEFR occurred in 14 children (46.7%). No statistically significant differences were found in either test. Specificity was 100% for FEV1 and 96.7% for PEFR. The greatest decrease in both spirometric parameters occurred at five minutes. CONCLUSIONS: According to our results, in a free-running provocation test if we maintain previously controlled environmental conditions and exercise intensity "forced breathing spirometry" and "Mini-Wright peak flow" can be used interchangeably in order to diagnose exercise-induced asthma.

Exercise-induced asthma in children: a comparative study of free and treadmill running.

BACKGROUND: Exercise is one of the most common precipitating factors of acute asthmatic crises in childhood. Although it has been described as more frequent among children, this is probably due to their more abundant physical activity. Nevertheless, it also occurs at other ages. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study is to assess possible differences in postexercise spirometry after treadmill and free running provocation tests. METHODS: We compared the results obtained in a treadmill test performed by 30 asthmatic children and 30 healthy children with the results obtained with these same children in a free running test, keeping similar environmental conditions (temperature and humidity), exercise intensity (assessed by heart rate), and airway status at the time of the test. RESULTS: Seventy-three percent of the patients had positive treadmill tests and 63.3% had positive free running tests. For the spirometric parameters studied, there were no significant differences in the percent decrease in postexercise performance after either of the provocation tests. For FEV1, which is the most sensitive diagnostic parameter, the sensitivity was 53.3% in treadmill running and 56.7% in free running, with a specificity of 100% in both tests. CONCLUSIONS: If environmental conditions, exercise intensity, and airway status are controlled at the time of the test, treadmill and free running can be used indistinctly as asthma-inducing exercises.