Remission of persistent childhood asthma: Early predictors of adult outcomes

Background: Few data exist on the predictors of asthma remission by early adulthood in North America.

Objective: The predictors of adult asthma remission were determined in a multiethnic population of patients with mild-to-moderate persistent childhood asthma.

Methods: Asthma remission in early adulthood was measured by using 2 definitions: a clinical and a strict definition. Both included normal lung function and the absence of symptoms, exacerbations, and medication use. The strict definition also included normal airways responsiveness. Predictors were identified from 23 baseline measures by using multivariate logistic regression. The probability of remission was modeled by using decision tree analysis.

Results: In 879 subjects the mean ± SD baseline age was 8.8 ± 2.1 years, 59.4% were male, and 68.7% were white. By adulthood, 229 (26.0%) of 879 participants were in clinical remission, and 111 (15.0%) of 741 participants were in strict remission. The degree of FEV₁/forced vital capacity (FVC) ratio impairment was the largest predictor of asthma remission. More than half of boys and two thirds of girls with baseline FEV₁/FVC ratios of 90% or greater were in remission at adulthood. Decreased airways responsiveness was also a predictor for both remission definitions (clinical remission odds ratio, 1.23 [95% CI, 1.09-1.39]; strict remission odds ratio, 1.52 [95% CI, 1.26-1.84]). The combination of normal FEV₁/FVC ratio, airways responsiveness, and serum eosinophil count at baseline yielded greater than 80% probability of remission by adulthood.

Conclusion: A considerable minority of patients with persistent childhood asthma will have disease remission by adulthood. Clinical prognostic indicators of asthma remission, including baseline lung function, can be seen from an early age.