PARENTAL CHILDHOOD RESPIRATORY ILLNESS AND RESPIRATORY ILLNESS IN THEIR INFANTS

Parental histories of childhood respiratory trouble (CRT) were examine d as risk factors for lower respiratory tract illnesses in healthy inf ants enrolled in the Children's Respiratory Study, Tucson, Arizona. A parental history of childhood respiratory trouble before age 16 was a risk factor for infantile lower respiratory tract illnesses (LRIs). Ea rly age of onset of the parental CRT and those illnesses described as asthma or bronchiolitis showed the greatest risk: odds ratio = 2.8, P < 0.05. After controlling for known and suspected confounders, a paren tal history of CRT described as asthma or bronchiolitis with onset bef ore age 3 was associated with wheezing LRIs in their children, with an odds ratio of 2.6, P < 0.05. A parental history of CRT described as b ronchitis/croup was associated with nonwheezing LRIs in their children : odds ratio = 2.2, P < 0.05. These findings suggest a familial compon ent to childhood respiratory trouble which may have a hereditary basis . (C) 1993 Wiley-Liss, Inc.