ArticleArchives of disease in childhood2007
Living at high altitude and risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma in children: results from a large prospective birth-cohort study.
Article in Archives of disease in childhood, 2007. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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9 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Temperature drop and the risk of asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2017Pooled it
- Hierarchical clustering for disentangling population vulnerability to asthma.Environmental advances · 2026Article
- Knowledge, Practice and Barriers of Community Pharmacists Towards Asthma Management: A Cross-Sectional Study in Saudi Arabia.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Born high, born fast: Does highland birth confer a pulmonary advantage for sea level endurance?Experimental physiology · 2025Review
- Pediatric asthma and altitude: a complex interplay between different environmental factors.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2024Review
- Investigation of the Environmental and Socio-Economic Characteristics of Counties with a High Asthma Burden to Focus Asthma Action in Utah.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Article
- Physiological and Biological Responses to Short-Term Intermittent Hypobaric Hypoxia Exposure: From Sports and Mountain Medicine to New Biomedical Applications.Frontiers in physiology · 2018Review
- Accurate prediction of severe allergic reactions by a small set of environmental parameters (NDVI, temperature).PloS one · 2015Article
- Sunny hours and variations in the prevalence of asthma in schoolchildren according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies (ISAAC) Phase III in Spain.International journal of biometeorology · 2011Article
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Authors and funding
11 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAsthma is among the most common chronic diseases in childhood and is steadily increasing in prevalence. Better characterisation of factors that determine the risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma in childhood may help design prevention programmes and improve our understanding of disease pathobiology. This study will focus on the altitude of residence.
methodsThis is an ongoing prospective birth-cohort study that enrolled all live-born infants in the Tyrol. Between 1994 and 1999, baseline data were collected for 33 808 infants. From 2000 to 2005, all children hospitalised for atopic asthma at the age of > or =6 years (n = 305) were identified by a careful search of hospital databases. Disease status was ascertained from the typical medical history, a thorough examination and proof of atopy.
resultsLiving at higher altitude was associated with an enhanced risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma (multivariate RRs (95% confidence interval 2.08 (1.45 to 2.98) and 1.49 (1.05 to 2.11) for a comparison between altitude categories > or =1200 m and 900-1199 m versus <900 m; p<0.001). This finding applied equally to hospital admissions in spring, summer, autumn and winter. When altitude of residence was analysed as a continuous variable, the risk for asthma hospitalisation increased by 7% for each 100-m increase in altitude (p = 0.013).
conclusionsThis large prospective study shows a significant association between the risk of hospitalisation for atopic asthma and altitude of residence between 450 and 1800 m. The underlying mechanisms remain to be elucidated, but it is tempting to speculate about a role for altitude characteristics such as the decline in outdoor temperature and air humidity and increase in ozone levels, which may trigger airway hyper-responsiveness and attenuate lung function.
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