Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40555500›Full record

ArticleThorax2025

Risk factors for atopic and non-atopic asthma in school-age children from high-income and low- and middle-income countries.

Charlotte E Rutter, Harriet Mpairwe, Camila A Figueiredo, Mary Njoroge, Steven Robertson, Hajar Ali, Collin Brooks, Jeroen Douwes, Philip J Cooper, Martha Chico and 7 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
In one paragraph

Article in Thorax, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–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

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
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

17 authors.

Charlotte E RutterDepartment of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK charlotte.rutter1@lshtm.ac.uk.ORCID 0000-0002-9823-7932
Harriet MpairweMRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
Camila A FigueiredoInstitute of Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
Mary NjorogeDepartment of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Steven RobertsonClinical Trials Unit, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Hajar AliCentre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Collin BrooksCentre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Jeroen DouwesCentre for Public Health Research, Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand.
Philip J CooperFundacion Ecuatoriana Para La Investigacion en Salud, Quito, Ecuador.ORCID 0000-0002-6770-6871
Martha ChicoFundacion Ecuatoriana Para La Investigacion en Salud, Quito, Ecuador.
Natalia Romero-SandovalSchool of Medicine, Universidad Internacional del Ecuador, Quito, Ecuador.
Álvaro A CruzPROAR, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
Pius TumwesigeMRC/UVRI and LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, Entebbe, Uganda.
Mauricio L BarretoCentre for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (CIDACS), Fiocruz, Bahia, Brazil.
Neil PearceDepartment of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.
Lucy PembreyDepartment of Medical Statistics, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, London, UK.ORCID 0000-0002-0455-7469
CAMERA Study Group

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIt is well established that there are different asthma phenotypes, but whereas determinants of atopic asthma (AA) are well studied, little is known about non-atopic asthma (NAA). We compared risk factors for atopy, AA in atopics and NAA in non-atopics in children in a wide variety of countries.

methodsUsing four studies, across 23 countries, we assessed asthma status and atopy (skin prick tests) for children aged 6-17, plus risk factors from housing, heating, pets, family, diet and air quality categories. Using mixed-effects logistic regression models, we assessed risk factors over four pathways: pathway 1-non-atopic non-asthma to NAA; pathway 2-non-atopic non-asthma to atopy (no asthma); pathway 3-atopic non-asthma to AA; pathway 4-non-atopic non-asthma to AA. We compared the log odds of risk factors between pathways using the Pearson correlation coefficient (PCC).

resultsOur final sample of 32 741 children comprised 67% with neither atopy nor asthma, 15% with atopy but without asthma, 8% with AA and 10% with NAA. Risk factors were similar between pathway 1 and pathway 3 (PCC=0.81, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.94). In contrast, risk factors differed between pathway 2 and pathway 3 (PCC=-0.06, 95% CI -0.29 to 0.17). DISCUSSION: These findings indicate that although atopy increases the risk of asthma, the risk factors for subsequently developing asthma are generally the same in those with and without atopy. This raises important questions about the role of atopy in asthma, particularly whether it is an inherent part of the aetiological process or is coincidental.

Indexed as

AsthmaDeveloped CountriesDeveloping CountriesHypersensitivity, ImmediateAdolescentChildFemaleHumansMaleRisk FactorsSkin TestsAsthmaAsthma EpidemiologyChildPaediatric asthma

Identifiers

PMID40555500
PMCPMC12703255

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
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.