Childhood factors associated with complete and clinical asthma remission at 25 and 49years

Asthma can go into remission later in life in approximately 35% of all patients [1]. Asthma remission is associated with childhood onset of asthma [2, 3], the male sex, smoking cessation, initially less severe airway obstruction and, notably, more severe bronchial hyperresponsiveness (BHR) [4, 5]. Unfortunately, patients in asthma remission may show relapse later in life. Data regarding childhood factors that predict clinical asthma remission in adulthood are sparse, and even fewer data on complete asthma remission [6] or the persistence of asthma remission throughout the lifespan are presently available. Therefore, the aim of the current study is to explore whether asthma remission persists in children, followed from childhood up to an average age of 49years. Furthermore, we determined which factors in childhood are associated with clinical and/or complete asthma remission that persists during adulthood.