Background: The causes of trends in asthma incidence are not fully understood. Objectives: This study examined trends in age and severity at asthma diagnosis for Ontario children. Methods: Multiple birth cohorts of Ontario children between 1992-2000 were created using health administrative data. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression examined changes in age and severity of asthma at diagnosis over time. Results: Age at asthma diagnosis decreased (p<0.0001) with a higher relative risk of asthma in children under age three (RR=1.5, 95% CI:1.47, 1.54). Predictors of asthma diagnosis before three included male sex, lower income quintile, and maternal asthma. ‘Severe onset asthma’ increased over time (p<0.0001), its predictors being male sex, lower income quintile, rural residence, comorbidity, low birth weight and age less than three. Conclusions: Observed trends in asthma incidence are not confined to mild disease and are secondary to variations in asthma rates in children under age three.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:TORONTO/oai:tspace.library.utoronto.ca:1807/35670 |
| Date | 16 July 2013 |
| Creators | Radhakrishnan, Dhenuka |
| Contributors | To, Teresa |
| Source Sets | University of Toronto |
| Language | en_ca |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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