Identifying Children with Persistent Asthma from Health Care Administrative Records
Date
2004-1-1
Authors
Kozyrskyj, Anita L
Mustard, Cameron A
Becker, Allan B
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Abstract
BACKGROUND: Investigation into the origins of asthma is contingent on definitions of asthma, which can differentiate asthma from transient wheezing syndromes in children.OBJECTIVES: This research was undertaken to develop a definition for asthma derived from health care administrative records, which would identify children with persistent asthma.PATIENTS AND METHODS: Using population-based, health
care administrative data, children with possible asthma were identified
as having one or more physician visits or hospitalizations for
asthma or bronchitis diagnoses from January 1995 to December 1995,
or, in the absence of asthma-like diagnoses, one or more prescriptions
for asthma prophylaxis drugs or ketotifen concomitant with a betaagonist,
or two or more prescriptions for beta-agonists.RESULTS: The likelihood of persistent asthma, defined as repeated
health care and prescription use for asthma from 1996 to 1998, was
assessed for various asthma markers and risk factors in 29,198 children
with possible asthma. Children with asthma prescription drugs
or asthma health care use not limited to the winter season were
three to six times more likely than children without these characteristics
to have persistent asthma. The likelihood of persistent asthma
was elevated to a substantial degree in the presence of both of these
markers.CONCLUSIONS:The inclusion of these measures in a diagnosisbased definition improves the ability to identify persistent asthma in children.
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Citation
Anita L Kozyrskyj, Cameron A Mustard, and Allan B Becker, “Identifying Children with Persistent Asthma from Health Care Administrative Records,” Canadian Respiratory Journal, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 141-145, 2004. doi:10.1155/2004/976852