Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23941287›Full record

SynthesisBMC pediatrics2013

Childhood body mass index and subsequent physician-diagnosed asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.

Kathryn B Egan, Adrienne S Ettinger, Michael B Bracken

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 9 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
79citing papers in PubMed, 9 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

79 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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  16. Pharmacogenetics of childhood uncontrolled asthma.Expert review of clinical immunology · 2025
    Review
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19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Kathryn B Egan
Adrienne S Ettinger
Michael B Bracken

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChildhood asthma and obesity prevalence have increased in recent years suggesting a potential association. However, the direction of any association is poorly understood and the potential causal-relationship is unknown.

methodsWe examined the association between overweight/obesity, defined by body mass index (BMI) <18 years of age, and subsequent physician-diagnosed incident asthma at least one year after BMI assessment. We sought to explore potential effect modification by sex. PubMed and Embase were searched using keywords and restricted to subjects aged 0-18 years. There were no date or language restrictions. From each study we extracted: authors, publication date, location, overweight/obesity definitions, asthma definitions, number of participants, recruitment duration, description of cohort, follow-up time, adjusted effect estimates (with 95% CI) and estimates of subgroup analysis.

resultsSix prospective cohort studies which focused on children <18 years of age met criteria for inclusion. The combined risk ratio (RR) of overweight was associated with asthma (RR = 1.35; 95% CI = 1.15, 1.58). In boys, the combined RR of overweight on asthma was significant (RR = 1.41; 95% CI = 1.05, 1.88). For girls, when BMI was defined by Z-score, the combined RR of overweight on asthma was also significant (RR = 1.19; 95% CI = 1.06, 1.34). The combined risk ratio (RR) of obesity was associated with asthma in both boys and girls (RR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.22, 1.83), in boys only (RR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.93) and in girls only (RR = 1.53; 95% CI = 1.09, 2.14).

conclusionsOverweight and, especially, obese children are at increased risk of subsequent physician diagnosed asthma in comparison to normal weight children. Except for sex, no studies reported any other potential effect modifiers. The observed sex effects were inconsistent.

Indexed as

AsthmaBody Mass IndexChildFemaleFollow-Up StudiesGlobal HealthHumansIncidenceMaleObesityProspective StudiesRisk Factors

Identifiers

PMID23941287
PMCPMC3751452

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.