The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 126, Issue 2 , Pages 212-216, August 2010

The Asthma Predictive Index: A very useful tool for predicting asthma in young children

  • Jose A. Castro-Rodriguez, MD, PhD

      Affiliations

    • Corresponding Author InformationReprint requests: Jose A. Castro-Rodriguez, MD, PhD, Lira 44, 1er. Piso, casilla 114-D, Santiago, Chile.

Departments of Pediatrics and Family Medicine, School of Medicine, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Received 5 April 2010; received in revised form 20 June 2010; accepted 22 June 2010. published online 12 July 2010.

Recurrent wheezing is a common problem in young children: approximately 40% of children wheeze in their first year of life. However, only 30% of preschoolers with recurrent wheezing still have asthma at the age of 6 years. Nevertheless, asthma, the most prevalent chronic disease in children, is difficult to diagnose in infants and preschoolers. This article reviews the importance of determining at an early age which infants/preschoolers will have asthma later in life, analyzes the pros and cons of different predictive indices, and discusses the efficacy of the Asthma Predictive Index.

Key words: Infants, preschoolers, wheezing, asthma, clinical score, asthma predictive index

Abbreviation/Acronyms used: API, Asthma Predictive Index, FeNO, Fraction of exhaled nitric oxide, mAPI, Modified Asthma Predictive Index, PIAMA, Prevention and Incidence of Asthma and Mite Allergy, RCT, Randomized clinical trial

 

 Disclosure of potential conflict of interest: J. A. Castro-Rodriguez has declared that he has no conflict of interest.

PII: S0091-6749(10)01034-1

doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2010.06.032

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology
Volume 126, Issue 2 , Pages 212-216, August 2010

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