Impact of wheezing episodes in children 0 to 3 years old from a low-income area in Southern Brazil

AIMS: To identify the prevalence of wheezing and associated factors in children younger than three years of age in a sample of low income region, and to measure other markers associated with severity and risk of asthma in early life. METHODS: Parents or legal guardians of infants were interviewed at the primary health center in a low-income area from Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul state, and answered a questionnaire designed to estimate the prevalence of wheezing and evaluate the associated risk factors, called EISL (International Study of Wheezing in Infants). We included patients up to 36 months of age visiting for routine examination or vaccination. Patients brought to emergency room were not included. RESULTS: The study evaluated a total of 153 children with a mean age of 12.6±9.5 months. Of them, 63% had at least one episode of wheezing reported, which occurred one or more times during the first year of life. The average age of the first episode of wheezing was 4.9±5.3 months. Use of β2-agonists, oral and inhaled corticosteroids was reported by 58.2%, 32.7% and 19%, respectively. More than 59% of the patients visited an emergency unit due to wheezing episodes and 13% were hospitalized at least once in the first years of life because of wheezing. CONCLUSIONS: This study has shown that the prevalence of wheezing on young children is high in a low-income area from Porto Alegre, and the symptoms usually occur during the first two years of life. In addition, high frequency of medication usage and hospitalization demonstrates the impact of obstructive lung disease in this age group.