Introduction and objective: An important role in the pathogenesis of asthma in children is played by individual parameters and environmental factors, in particular, those related to the place of residence. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of the living environment on the basic demographic and clinical parameters of preschool children with IgE-dependent asthma.
Material and methods: 176 children (126 from urban and 52 from rural areas) aged 5.22±0.34 years, with newly-diagnosed IgE-dependent asthma, hospitalised at the Clinic for Lung Diseases and Paediatric Rheumatology of the Prof. Antoni Gębala Children's Hospital of Lublin, were qualified for the study. Medical documentation of the children was analysed, including the implementation of vaccinations. Due to the clinical form of the disease, patients were separated into groups with mild, moderate and severe asthma.
Results: No statistically significant differentiation was observed between age and current body weight and height of the children. Similarly, gender and the clinical form of asthma were not significantly correlated with the place of residence. Children with asthma, at the time of exacerbation symptoms of the disease, living in a city, significantly more often (p <0.05) were treated with antibiotics in the hospital during hospitalization, while the value of OR (5.08) indicated that the rural environment enforces more frequent use of OGCs during asthma exacerbation therapy. In children from the urban environment, there was a significant correlation between the current body weight and serum calcium concentration, as well as a negative statistically significant correlation between the current body weight and serum selenium concentration.
Conclusions: Residence does not determine the clinical course of IgE-dependent asthma in preschool children.
Keywords: asthma; children; clinical parameters; living environment.