# Prevalence and early-life risk factors of asthma in preterm adolescents: a cohort study

## TL;DR

This study finds that early preterm adolescents may have a higher risk of asthma, and RSV hospitalizations are linked to asthma in adolescence.

## Contribution

The study identifies RSV hospitalization as a significant risk factor for asthma in preterm adolescents.

## Key findings

- Early preterm adolescents had a higher asthma diagnosis rate (11%) compared to moderately-late preterm and full-term peers.
- Hospitalization for RSV infection was associated with a fourfold higher risk of asthma in adolescence.
- Moderately-late preterm adolescents showed similar asthma and asthma-like symptom rates as full-term adolescents.

## Abstract

We seek to elucidate the prevalence, types of respiratory symptoms experienced, and potential early-life risk factors of asthma in adolescence.

We performed a prospective cohort study including 294 adolescents [130 moderately-late preterm (MLP), 81 early preterm (EP), and 83 full-term (FT)]. Asthma, asthma-like symptoms, and smoking in early childhood and adolescence were self-reported. We collected prenatal and postnatal characteristics, including maternal smoking, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infections.

In 11% of EP, 4% of MLP, and 4% of FT adolescents, a formal asthma diagnosis was made. Asthma-like symptoms were reported in 14%, 14%, and 7% of the cases, respectively. Being hospitalized for an RSV infection was associated with a four times higher risk of asthma in adolescence (odds ratio 3.68 and 95% confidence interval 1.04–13.0), while other predictors did not contribute.

MLP adolescents have similar rates of asthma and asthma-like symptoms as their FT peers, while EP adolescents might have a higher risk of asthma but have similar rates of asthma-like symptoms. RSV infections that require hospitalization are associated with an asthma diagnosis in adolescence.

https://www.controlled-trials.com, identifier ISRCTN 80622320.