Risk factors for childhood asthma in Costa Rica

Background: Little is known about factors determining the pathogenesis and severity of asthma in Latin American countries. Costa Rica, one of the most prosperous Latin American nations, has a very high asthma prevalence. Objective: To examine the relation between potential risk factors and child hood asthma in Costa Rica. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 214 schoolchildren aged 10 to 13 years pa rticipating in phase II of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Results: After adjustment for age, gender, area of residence, maternal smok ing during pregnancy, and airway responsiveness to hypertonic saline soluti on, sensitization to house dust mites was associated with asthma (odds rati o [OR], 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1 to 4.4; p = 0.02). In the mu ltivariate analysis, parental education no higher than high school (OR, 3.0 ; 95% CI, 1.4 to 6.4; p < 0.01) and parental history of asthma (OR, 2.6; 95 % CI, 1.3 to 5.2; p < 0.01) were also independent predictors of childhood a sthma. Conclusions: Sensitization to house dust mites, low parental education, and parental history of asthma are associated with asthma in Costa Rica.