School absenteeism, exercise-induced wheeze and medical assistance required among children and adults with current wheeze with or without doctor-diagnosed asthma, and healthy subjects
| In past 12 months | 6–7-year age group | 13–14-year age group | Adults | |||||||||
| Current wheezers with doctor-diagnosed asthma (n=115) | Current wheezers without doctor-diagnosed asthma (n=519) | Subjects without current wheeze (n=19 450) | p-value# | Current wheezers with doctor-diagnosed asthma (n=239) | Current wheezers without doctor-diagnosed asthma (n=701) | Subjects without current wheeze (n=24 947) | p-value# | Current wheezers with doctor-diagnosed asthma (n=603) | Current wheezers without doctor-diagnosed asthma (n=2077) | Subjects without current wheeze (n=78 616) | p-value# | |
| Missed school due to breathing problem ≥1 day | 76 (66.09) | 13 (2.50) | 53 (0.27) | 0.000 | 126 (52.72) | 168 (23.96) | 1499 (6.01) | 0.000 | ||||
| Wheezy chest with exercise | 39 (33.91) | 117 (22.54) | 399 (2.05) | 0.000 | 103 (43.10) | 237 (33.81) | 1943 (7.79) | 0.000 | ||||
| Urgent visit to doctor due to breathing problem (≥1 time) | 81 (70.43) | 16 (3.08) | 54 (0.28) | 0.000 | 119 (49.79) | 208 (29.67) | 1606 (6.44) | 0.000 | 391 (64.84) | 74 (3.56) | 244 (0.31) | 0.000 |
| Urgent visit to emergency department due to breathing problem (≥1 time) | 42 (36.52) | 5 (0.96) | 18 (0.09) | 0.000 | 53 (22.17) | 73 (10.41) | 598 (2.40) | 0.000 | 180 (29.85) | 32 (1.54) | 106 (0.13) | 0.000 |
| Admitted to hospital due to breathing problem (≥1 time) | 51 (44.35) | 6 (1.16) | 22 (0.11) | 0.000 | 61 (25.52) | 61 (8.70) | 679 (2.72) | 0.000 | 165 (27.36) | 32 (1.54) | 101 (0.13) | 0.000 |
| Limited usual activity (at work or in the home) due to breathing problem | 216 (35.82) | 366 (17.62) | 932 (1.19) | 0.000 | ||||||||
Data are presented as n (%), unless otherwise stated. #: Chi-squared test.