Abstract
ABSTRACTObjective To investigate the effect of levels of physical activity on asthma control in children.Methods A cross-sectional study, including public school students aged 8 to 12 years, of both sexes, with asthma, from a capital and a medium-sized cities in Southern Brazil. At home, the students answered the questionnaire on levels of physical activity and disease control.Results A total of 482 schoolchildren with asthma participated in the study, with mean age of 10.9±2.2 years, and 253 (52%) were girls. Regarding disease control, 50% had controlled asthma, and 67% were considered sedentary. Schoolchildren with controlled asthma were more active than those with uncontrolled asthma (p=0.032). Active schoolchildren were more likely to have asthma controlled (OR=1.5; 95%CI: 1.04-2.25).Conclusion The results demonstrated an association between physical activity levels and asthma control. More active schoolchildren were more likely to have asthma controlled.
Highlights
Asthma is considered the most prevalent chronic disease in the pediatric age groups, affecting from 8.7 to 30.8% of this population in different Latin American countries.[1]
Maintenance of asthma control helps in reducing the risk of exacerbations and hospitalizations, decreasing the use of health resources, and of costs of the disease.[11] scientific production regarding the relation between the levels of physical activity and asthma control in children and adolescents is still scarce, and the existing results are controversial.[12,13]
When we compare the schoolchildren who were asthmatic, active, and sedentary, we observed no difference between the groups for economic and screen time classification
Summary
Asthma is considered the most prevalent chronic disease in the pediatric age groups, affecting from 8.7 to 30.8% of this population in different Latin American countries.[1]. Reduction in the number of exacerbations and hospital admissions in asthmatic individuals with higher levels of physical activity has been reported,(8) besides others benefits, such as improved pulmonary function, control of inflammatory mediators, increase in aerobic capacity, and decrease in occurrence of bronchospasm induced by exercise in asthmatic individuals.[9,10]. Maintenance of asthma control helps in reducing the risk of exacerbations and hospitalizations, decreasing the use of health resources, and of costs of the disease (currently R$1.984,17/patient-year).(11) scientific production regarding the relation between the levels of physical activity and asthma control in children and adolescents is still scarce, and the existing results are controversial.[12,13]
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