Prevalence of asthma, its correlates, and validation of the Pre-School Asthma Risk Factors Scale (PS-ARFS) among preschool children in Lebanon

• Souheil Hallit ^[1] ; Hala Sacre ^[3] ; Nelly Kheir ^[4] ; Rabih Hallit ^[1] ; Mirna Waked ^[2] ; Pascale Salameh ^[5]
  1. [1] Holy Spirit University of Kaslik

     Holy Spirit University of Kaslik

     Líbano

     
  2. [2] University of Balamand

     University of Balamand

     Líbano

     
  3. [3] INSPECT-LB: Institut National de Santé Publique, Epidémiologie Clinique et Toxicologie – Liban, Beirut, Lebanon.
  4. [4] Research Department, Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross, Jal Eddib, Lebanon.
  5. [5] INSPECT-LB: Institut National de Santé Publique, Epidémiologie Clinique et Toxicologie – Liban, Beirut, Lebanon; Faculty of Pharmacy, Lebanese University, Beirut, Lebanon; Faculty of Medicine, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus.

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• Localización: Allergologia et immunopathologia: International journal for clinical and investigate allergology and clinical immunology, ISSN-e 1578-1267, ISSN 0301-0546, Vol. 49, Nº. 1, 2021, págs. 40-49
• Idioma: inglés
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  • Objectives: The Asthma Risk Factor Scale (ARFS) is used to screen for asthma in Lebanese preschool children (aged 3–16 years). The study objective was to describe factors associated with asthma, confirm ARFS score validity among Lebanese preschool children, and develop a risk score for asthma diagnosis in this age group (Pre-School Asthma Risk Factor Scale [PS-ARFS]).

    Methods: A cross-sectional study enrolled 515 preschool children (November 2018 and March 2019). The ARFS is a 15-item tool that assesses children’s environmental exposure, parental history of asthma, and dietary habits.

    Results: The percentage of asthmatic children was 8.2%. Higher odds of asthma in children were associated with living near a prairie sprayed with pesticides (odds ratio [OR] = 2.33), playing outdoors (OR = 2.89), having a heater in the bedroom (OR = 10.73), attending a nursery (OR = 2.91), having a mother who smokes cigarettes (OR = 3.35) or water pipe (OR = 2.46), a sister with a history of seasonal allergy (OR = 6.81), and a parental history (mother and father) of asthma (OR = 6.15 and OR = 9.83, respectively). Higher ARFS scores (OR = 1.144) were associated with higher odds of asthma. Accordingly, the PS-ARFS was created according to the following formula: ARFS score + (playing outdoor × 2.4) + (heating system in the bedroom × 12.9) + (having attended a nursery × 2.5) (area under the curve = 0.908 [0.860–0.957]; P < 0.001); at value: 14.20, Se = 84.3% and Sp = 90.9%.

    Conclusion: PS-ARFS is suggested for screening of asthma in preschool children in an epidemiological setting and in the absence of spirometry.