Early childhood bronchitis has been found to increase the risk of developing lung disease in middle age, according to research from the University of Melbourne’s Allergy and Lung Health Unit.
The researchers found that Australian children who had bronchitis at least once before the age of seven were more likely to have lung problems later on.
They also found that the lung diseases that children suffered when they reached the age of 53 were usually asthma and pneumonia, rather than chronic bronchitis or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The lead author of an article published today in the journal BMJ Open Respiratory Research, Dr. Jennifer Perret, said the results came from one of the world’s oldest surveys, the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study, which followed 8,583 people were born in Tasmania in 1961 and started school in 1968.
This is the first long-term prospective study to examine the relationship between the severity of childhood bronchitis and the results of adult lung health. We have seen that children with prolonged bacterial bronchitis have a higher risk of developing a serious chronic infectious lung disease after two or five years, so studies like ours are documenting the possibility that symptomatic children may develop lung conditions, such as asthma and changes in lung function. to middle adulthood. “
Dr. Jennifer Perret, lead author of an article
The researchers established the link between childhood bronchitis and adult lung problem by surveying the original participants when they joined the study. Participants were then monitored for an average of 46 years and 42% completed another questionnaire, including physician-diagnosed lung conditions and a clinical examination, between 2012 and 2016.
By categorizing participants into groups based on the number and duration of episodes of “bronchitis” and / or “loose, loud, or worse cough,” they found that the more often a participant had been diagnosed by a physician as pneumonia and asthma, the participant was more likely to have bronchitis as a child.
Perret said the figures for the most severe subgroup were small (only 42 participants were in this category and of these only 14 had current asthma in middle age), but the trends between the severity categories of bronchitis were significant.
“Compared to most who have never had bronchitis, there has been an incremental increase in the risk of subsequent asthma and pneumonia, which is reinforced by how often a person has had bronchitis as a child, and especially if they had episodes. recurrences that lasted for at least a month.
“It is noteworthy that the link with later adult active asthma was observed for participants who did not have asthma or wheezing coexisting in childhood, and a similar finding has recently been seen in a very large meta-analysis of school-age children who had an infection of the lower respiratory tract during early childhood. “
Researchers hope the study will help doctors identify children who could benefit from more careful follow-up and previous interventions to keep them in better health during mid-adult life.
Source:
Magazine reference:
Perret, JL, et al. (2022) Childhood “bronchitis” and respiratory outcomes in middle age: a prospective cohort study from 7 to 53 years. BMJ Open Respiratory Research. doi.org/10.1136/bmjresp-2022-001212.