Audit strategies to reduce hospital admissions for acute asthma

An eightfold rise in hospital admissions for acute asthma from 1971-85 prompted two studies to audit the admissions policy at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. In the first study the on call senior house officer (SHO) was replaced by an experienced registrar and over a four month period 53 children out of 158 were sent home from the receiving room compared with six out of 39 seen by the SHOs. In the second study an SHO training programme was established together with a home treatment package. Over a 12 month period the on call SHOs assessed 687 children with acute asthma; 229 (43.5%) were deemed fit to be sent home. Only seven of these were readmitted within one week. Diary symptom score cards filled in by parents indicated that children sent home without admission fared no worse at home than those admitted and then discharged for the two weeks after leaving hospital. The development of strategies to improve assessment and immediate management in the hospital receiving room can reduce hospital admissions for acute asthma, allowing more children to be safely managed in the community.     

Decreasing admissions for childhood asthma to a Swedish county hospital

Hospital admission rates for childhood asthma have increased in many countries. To study if this is also true for Norrköping Hospital, paediatric admission rates for asthma every fifth year were examined for the period 1973 to 1993. Admission rates were found to have fallen over the last 10 years, especially in children of school age. Among the younger age groups (below 5 years of age) a fall in admission rates was also observed over the last 5 years. This fall occurred in spite of reported increases in the prevalence of childhood asthma. The relative risk for admission due to asthma thus decreased from 1 in 1973 to 0.09 in 1993. The readmission rate has been stable. The mean length of stay in hospital for asthma decreased significantly. The observed decreasing trend in hospital admissions for childhood asthma is contrary to that found in many other countries. Possible explanations are discussed.     

Audit strategies to reduce hospital admissions for acute asthma.

An eightfold rise in hospital admissions for acute asthma from 1971-85 prompted two studies to audit the admissions policy at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. In the first study the on call senior house officer (SHO) was replaced by an experienced registrar and over a four month period 53 children out of 158 were sent home from the receiving room compared with six out of 39 seen by the SHOs. In the second study an SHO training programme was established together with a home treatment package. Over a 12 month period the on call SHOs assessed 687 children with acute asthma; 229 (43.5%) were deemed fit to be sent home. Only seven of these were readmitted within one week. Diary symptom score cards filled in by parents indicated that children sent home without admission fared no worse at home than those admitted and then discharged for the two weeks after leaving hospital. The development of strategies to improve assessment and immediate management in the hospital receiving room can reduce hospital admissions for acute asthma, allowing more children to be safely managed in the community.     

Social adversity, migration and hospital admissions for childhood asthma in Sweden

The number of children admitted to hospitals because of asthma has been reported to decrease in Sweden in recent decades despite an increasing prevalence of childhood asthma. This decrease has been explained by improved maintenance therapy of children with severe asthma. In this study we used data on hospital admissions for asthma from the Swedish National Patient Discharge Registers in Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg 1990-1994 to identify social and ethnic characteristics of children 2-18-y-old in need of improvement in disease management. Children in families on social welfare (adjusted odds ratios (OR): 1.3 and 1.5) and children in single-parent households (adjusted OR: 1.3 and 1.4) were more often admitted to hospital because of asthma at least once during a calendar year in the 2-6- and 7-18-y-old groups. Children in families on social welfare had a particularly high risk of being admitted more than once during a calendar year (adjusted OR: 1.6 in the younger age group and 2.9 in the older group). Exposure to smoking during pregnancy was more common in socially disadvantaged families and increased the risk of hospital admission in children below 3 y of age. Children born outside Western Europe, the USA and Australia were less commonly admitted to hospital because of asthma than other children in the population (adjusted OR: 0.1-0.5). Swedish-born children with mothers who were born in Eastern and Southern Europe were also at lower risk for admission to hospital with a diagnosis of asthma (adjusted OR: 0.2–0.6). This probably indicates a lower prevalence of asthma in these ethnic groups. Further studies are needed to identify factors that can explain these ethnic differences in childhood asthma.     

Use of inhaled corticosteroids decreases hospital admissions for asthma in young children

Background  An active use of inhaled corticosteroids for asthma has been associated with less asthma exacerbations and hospital admissions in children aged more than 2 years. The present study aimed to investigate hospital admission rates in young children from two populations in relation to the age-specific use of maintenance medication for asthma. Methods  Annual data on children aged less than 24 months treated for asthma, including data on the use of maintenance medication based on the purchases of prescribed medications, and annual numbers of admissions to hospital and proportions of readmissions, were collected from 1995 to 1999 in two provinces of Finland. The inclusion criteria, three or more doctor-diagnosed wheezing episodes, were individually checked by the authors in each case. The mean number of children aged less than 24 months during the years of the study was 5490 in Kuopio and 9914 in Oulu area. Results  In the Kuopio area, during the years of the study, 16.5/1000 children aged less than 24 months were on maintenance medication for asthma, and 90% of them were receiving inhaled corticosteroids. In the Oulu area, the respective figures were 13.5/1000 (P<0.001) and 99%. The average admission rate was 7.9/1000 in the Kuopio area and 8.7/1000 in the Oulu area (P<0.05). The readmissions indicated the higher admission rates in the Oulu (40% of all admissions) than in the Kuopio (28%) area (P<0.01). Conclusion  Active use of maintenance therapy by inhaled corticosteroids was associated with a decreased need of hospital treatment in young children <24 months old with asthma, mainly because of less readmissions.     

Trends in hospital admissions for pediatric asthma in childrenduring a period of eighteen years

OBJECTIVE: To study trends in hospital admissions for acute pediatric asthma in the Hospital da Santa Casa do Rio Grande during the period of 1979 to 1996. METHODS: This is a study of a series of cases. We reviewed all the discharge records of pediatric patients with diagnosis of acute asthma, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis within the period mentioned above. The main variable in this study was the percentage of admissions for acute asthma in relation to the total amount of hospital admissions. The percentages of admissions for bronchiolitis and pneumonia in relation to the total amount of hospital admissions were also calculated as reference values. RESULTS: There were 3,493 admissions for acute asthma in 3,122 patients during the studied period, with an average of 194 admissions per year. The percentage of admissions for acute asthma to total hospital admissions increased from 5,5% to 14,7% between 1983/84 and 1991/92. Half of this increase occurred during the period 1987-1992 in which hospitalizations for bronchiolitis and pneumonia were stable. This percentage decreased from 14,7% to 10,6% in the period of 1991/92 - 1995/96. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant increase in hospital admissions for acute pediatric asthma in the Hospital da Santa Casa do Rio Grande during the period of 1983 - 1992. From then on, hospital admissions for asthma showed downward trends.     

Early determinants of first hospital admissions for asthma and acute bronchitis among Swedish children

Aim: To assess the changing impact of prenatal and perinatal factors with increasing age on first admissions for asthma and acute bronchitis. Methods: The Swedish Medical Birth Registry was linked to the National Hospital Discharge Registry for 214276 Swedish children born in 1987 and 1988. The linkage comprised first admissions for acute bronchitis or asthma from 1987 to 1995. First admissions for gastroenteritis were included to distinguish between factors specific to asthma or bronchitis and non-specific factors related to an increased risk of hospital admission. Results: Admissions for asthma and acute bronchitis before 2 y of age had a close dose-response relationship with maternal smoking, low gestational age, low maternal age and older siblings. Very premature children exposed to more than 9 cigarettes a day in utero ran a 10 times higher risk of hospitalization than postmature children without exposure to maternal smoking. However, the proportion of admissions attributed to maternal smoking was only 4.7% after adjustments for significant covariates. The number of significant determinants declined in children with their first admission for asthma after 2 y of age but male gender and low educational level were independent determinants in all age groups. Older siblings were related to an increased risk of first asthma admission before 2 y of age but a slightly reduced risk of first admission after 2 y of age. Conclusion: This study illustrates the varied epidemiology of asthma in different age groups. Maternal smoking was an important determinant for admission before 2 y of age but mainly in combination with other factors. The decline in hospital admissions in early childhood would therefore be small, even after the elimination of maternal smoking, if other significant perinatal and socioeconomic factors were unchanged.     

Seasonality in pediatric asthma admissions: the role of climate and environmental factors

Background Population-based data from Taiwan are used to examine seasonality in pediatric asthma admissions (proxy for asthma exacerbations) and associations with air pollutants and climatic factors. Monthly admission rates per 100,000 population, classified into three age groups, 0~2, 2~5, and 6~14 years (calculated from a total of 27,275 hospitalizations during 1998–2001) were subjected to autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) modeling to examine seasonality. Spearman rank correlations were used to examine associations with criterion air pollutants (PM₁₀, SO₂, CO, O₃, NO₂) and meteorological factors (ambient temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, rainfall, and sunshine hours).Results Both seasonality and associations with air pollutants and climate factors vary by age group. Among under-twos, the rates are lowest in January–February and highest in November, with a trough in June–July. Among preschoolers, the rates are lowest in June–July and highest in November, with two upsurges in August and March. Among school-goers, admission rates are lowest during June–August, with upsurges in March and September. The number of weather and pollutant predictors increases with age. Among under-twos, only two factors, PM₁₀ and rainfall, significantly predict admissions. For preschoolers, five factors (PM₁₀, CO, O₃, temperature, and pressure), and for school-goers, all air pollutants except NO_2, and all climatic factors except rainfall are significant.Conclusion Seasonality in pediatric asthma admissions vary by age in a subtropical island setting.     

哮喘患儿再次入院危险因素分析

目的：　研究哮喘患儿再次入院的危险因素。方法：　以近8年该院儿科因哮喘住院的289例患儿为对象,综合分析其一般情况、哮喘严重程度、临床表现、出院后治疗及首次入院后12个月内再次入院的情况等资料,筛选和分析哮喘再次入院相关危险因素。结果：　 21.8%哮喘患儿在首次入院后12个月内再次入院,24个月内升至40.1%。与再入院相关的危险因素有:年龄 (OR =4.466 ,P <0 .0 1 );既往住院次数(OR=4.256,P<0.01);哮喘严重程度(OR =1.993,P<0.01);呼吸次数 (OR =1.032,P<0.01);出院后吸入皮质激素治疗(OR =1.943,P<0.05)。结论：　年龄小于5岁、既往因哮喘住院次数较多者、哮喘程度较严重者及呼吸次数较快者,其再次入院的危险性较高,而出院后使用吸入皮质激素治疗者再次入院危险性较低     

Acute childhood asthma in Finland:A retrospective review of hospital admissions from 1976 to 1995

The prevalence of childhood asthma has increased markedly in many Western societies during recent decades. We wanted to study whether the incidence and severity of childhood asthma in Finland had changed during the time-period 1976–95. Hospital admission rates from 1976 to 1995 were obtained from the National Hospital Discharge Register and the individual intensive care unit (ICU) registers of the five university hospitals in Finland. The number and length of treatment periods for childhood asthma in all Finnish hospitals and at the ICUs of the five university hospitals were analyzed. The number of children receiving special reimbursement for asthma medication costs was obtained from the central register of the Social Insurance Institution. The data showed that during the time-period investigated, hospital admissions as a result of asthma had increased by 2.8-fold, but the mean length of hospital stay had more than halved (from 7.3 to 2.6 days). The increase in hospital admissions showed greatest significance in the 0–4-year age-group among both sexes (p < 0.001). In contrast, a significant reduction in hospital admissions was found among the 10–14-year age-group (p < 0.001). No discernible change in admission to ICUs was seen. During the same time-period, the number of children receiving special reimbursement for asthma medication costs increased 7.5-fold. Hence, a major increase has occured in the number of children diagnosed with asthma that has not been paralleled by a proportionate increase in the number of hospital admissions. While the prevalence of mild and moderate asthma has increased, the occurrence of severe asthma has remained essentially unchanged.     

Review of intensive care unit admissions for asthma.

A review of ICU admissions for asthma to the Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles was conducted for the period January 1969 through July 1977. The admission rate remained relatively constant during this period. Patients requiring ICU admission tended to be young, intractable severe asthmatics whose asthma started at a very young age. There were three patients who had no previous history of asthma. The incidence of pneumonitis/atelectasis was somewhat greater than has been reported for patients hospitalized for status asthmaticus. A significant number of children received neither intravenous corticosteriods, sympathomimetics nor oxygen therapy while hospitalized prior to transfer to the ICU. Those children receiving mechanical ventilation or intravenous isoproterenol tended to be somewhat younger and had a higher incidence of pneumonitis/atelectasis and more abnormal blood gas determinations than their counterparts who were not similarly treated. Mechanical ventilation was administered to 15 patients and 19 patients received intravenous isoproterenol. Intravenous isoproterenol resulted in prompt improvement in most patients; except for one patient who experienced cardiac arrhythmia (reversed when the dosage was decreased), this medication was well-tolerated.     

Postoperative complications and unanticipated hospital admissions

Following anesthesia and surgery, children have more postoperative complications in the recovery room than adults. The majority of events are age-related (neonates and infants) and involve the respiratory rather than the cardiovascular system. In spite of newer antinausea drugs, pediatric patients have a high incidence of postoperative nausea and vomiting leading to unexpected admission to the hospital. Pain is underreported and undertreated in the pediatric population.     

School holidays and admissions with asthma.

The admission rate for asthma at a children''s hospital was studied over an 11 year period. Admissions varied unpredictably over periods of a few days, but there was a repeated yearly pattern of peaks and troughs with an interval of several weeks. The short term variation could be attributed to chance effects alone, excluding any important role for short term influences--for example, weather changes--in precipitating asthma admissions. There was a definite association between the longer term variation and school holidays. The admission rate fell during holidays and there were two or more peaks during terms. The pattern is consistent with a largely viral aetiology for asthmatic attacks throughout the year. We postulate that school holidays disrupt the spread of viral infections in a community, with synchronisation of subsequent attacks. Travel during holidays may facilitate acquisition of new viral strains by the community.     

Rising asthma admissions and self referral.

An eight fold rise in asthma admissions to the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children, Brighton occurred over the 15 year period 1971-85. The cause was an increase in the number of children seen, rather than increased readmission. The initial rise was associated with the introduction of nebulised salbutamol in 1976. The children concerned were mainly over 5 years old. Three years later came a larger influx of younger children. Circumstances leading to admissions were examined in a prospective study over a one year period. There were 605 admissions, 437 (72%) were self referrals. The commonest reason parents gave for preferring hospital treatment was the availability of nebuliser treatment.     

Childhood asthma admissions: Determinants of short stay

The objective of this study was to identify the determinants of short hospital stay (< 24 h) among children admitted because of an acute asthma exacerbation. Computerized health records were used to identify children with a discharge diagnosis of asthma (ICD code 493.0) at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, during the period October 1994 to October 1995. Cases were children with a length of hospital stay of < 24 h (short-stay group) and controls were children with a length of stay of > 24 h (long-stay group). Clinical and demographic data were extracted from the medical record. Over the 12-month period, 485 children were hospitalized because of asthma. Of these, 121 (25%) had short-stay admissions (< 24 h), whereas 364 (75%) had long-stay admissions (> 24 h). Simple random sampling was used to select 85 children from each of the two groups. There were no differences between the two groups regarding language, primary care physician, asthma history, management prior to emergency department (ED) presentation, respiratory rate on presentation, use of the observation unit, and time in the ED. Logistic regression analyses identified three variables associated with short hospital stay: milder asthma (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 4.9), male gender (adjusted OR 2.4), and availability of a delivery device at home (adjusted OR 2.0). In conclusion, many children admitted to hospital because of an asthma exacerbation have short, yet expensive, hospital stays. The results of this study highlight the importance of developing alternative models of health care delivery for asthmatic children requiring short hospital contact.     

大气颗粒物与儿童哮喘住院人数相关性的Meta分析

目的 评价大气颗粒物(PM10、PM2.5)短期暴露对儿童哮喘发作住院人数的影响,获取大气颗粒物与儿童哮喘发作的暴露-反应关系.方法 检索PubMed、Ebsco、Ovid、中国生物医学数据库、中文科技期刊全文数据库、中国知网和万方数据库等,检索时间均为1990年1月1日至2013年12月31日,以“哮喘”“PM10”“PM25”“空气污染”“颗粒物”及“asthma”“air pollution" "air pollutants”“particulate matter”为关键词查找关于颗粒物短期暴露对儿童哮喘住院人数影响的文献.依据文献纳入和排除标准及制定的评价标准,进行文献筛选和质量评价.纳入文献后分别提取PM10、PM25的暴露-反应关系,采用Revman5.2.11软件进行Meta分析,根据异质性结果选择相应的效应模型分析.结果 大气中PM10浓度每上升10μg/m3,短期内儿童哮喘的住院人数平均上升1.75％,而PM25浓度每上升10 μg/m3,短期内儿童哮喘的住院人数平均上升3.45％;亚组分析中病例交叉研究的暴露-反应关系效应值高于时间序列分析.结论 短期内PM10、PM2.5浓度的上升会导致儿童哮喘住院人数增加,且PM2.5引起的发作风险高于PM10.