Association between allergy and asthma from childhood to middle adulthood in an Australian cohort study

A cohort of 378 asthmatic children was studied from 7 to 35 yr of age at 7- yr intervals. On selection for inclusion in the study sample, the children had a wide range of severity of wheezing. At each 7-yr review, asthma sever ity, the presence of eczema or hay fever, and skin test reactivity to house dust mite or rye grass were recorded by questionnaire or clinical intervie w. We report, on the course of asthma and these atopic conditions over the study period and discuss associations between the two phenomena. The presen ce of an atopic condition in childhood was found to increase the odds of mo re severe asthma in later life (odds ratio [OR] = 1.66, 95% confidence inte rval [CI]: 1.17 to 2.36 in the case of eczema; OR = 1.39, 95% CI: 1.00 to 1 .92 for hay fever; and OR = 2.25, 95% CI: 1.49 to 3.39 for skin test reacti vity). Additionally, the odds of eczema and hay fever in later life increas ed with severity of asthma in childhood. The findings of this study provide substantially new quantitative information on the extent of association be tween asthma and atopic conditions from childhood into middle adulthood.