Clinical characteristics of different ages of children with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma

Objective To investigate the clinical characteristics of different ages of children with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma. Methods The clinical data of 118 children with an acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma between June 2012 and June 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. These patients were classified into infant group(3 years old), preschool group(3-6 years old), and school-age group(6-14 years old) to compare their clinical characteristics. Results The infant group had the highest rate of pneumonia, the highest rate of hospital use of antibacterial agents, the highest hospital costs, and the longest length of hospital stay, followed by the preschool group and the school-age group(P0.05). For the maintenance treatment of asthma, the rate of use of inhaled corticosteroids was highest in the school-age group(70%), followed by the preschool group(50%)and the infant group(38%)(P0.05). Conclusions The clinical characteristics vary between different ages of children with acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma: the children less than 3 years old have a higher rate of pneumonia, a higher rate of use of antibacterial agents, higher hospital costs, a longer length of hospital stay, and a lower rate of standard treatment.