How age at asthma diagnosis affects healing probability of asthma?

Published online: May 1, 2021

Age of asthma onset seems to play an important role in defining asthma burden in individual patients. However, less is known about how age of asthma onset affects the probability of healing (remission) of asthma if the general population is studied. The relationship between age at asthma diagnosis and asthma remission, and how patient characteristics influence this relationship, was studied by Honkamäki et al in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. In this study, 16,000 20-69-year-old adults were selected from the Finnish Population Register and sent a respiratory questionnaire. In total, 8,199 (51.5%) adults returned the questionnaire with information about their medical history, asthma, and allergic diseases.

In this study, if asthma had been symptomless and asthma medication had not been used during the previous ≥ 12 months, the patient’s asthma was considered as remitted. Adult patients diagnosed with asthma after their 40th birthday were at the highest risk of having active asthma - only 5% of those patients were in remission. In contrast, asthma remission was most common in those adults diagnosed with asthma before 12 years of age. Overall, remission of asthma was also more common in men than in women. The risk factors for having active asthma were partly different in adults who were diagnosed with asthma early versus later in life.

The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice is an official journal of the AAAAI, focusing on practical information for the practicing clinician.

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