Objective: To evaluate the effects of asthma and inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) in children on the final adult height.
Methods: A search was performed to collect studies evaluating the relationship between asthma and ICS in children and the final adult height in PubMed, BCI, EMbase, Web of Science, CNKI and Wanfang databases, then a systemic review and Meta analysis were conducted.
Results: Six studies evaluating the relationship between childhood asthma and the final adult height were enrolled. Three of them indicated that the final adult height was not influenced by childhood asthma. Two of them suggested a mild effect, and the effect was correlated with severity of childhood asthma. One of them indicated that a lower final adult height related to childhhod asthma was found only in black females without a high school education. Four studies evaluating the relationship between ICS and the final adult height were included. Compared with the non-ICS treatment group, healthy control group and the target height, ICS treatment had no effects on the final adult height.
Conclusions: Childhood asthma does not or only mildly decrease the final adult height. ICS treatment does not significantly affect the final adult height.