Household adult smoking behaviors and prevalence of asthma in Greek schoolchildren: five surveys during 1998-2018.

OBJECTIVE: Environmental tobacco smoke exposure is a well-recognized risk factor for asthma development and poor asthma control in children. However, the relationship between changes in parental smoking habits over time and the prevalence of childhood asthma remains largely unknown. Our objective was to investigate the trends of parental smoking behaviors in relation to childhood wheeze/asthma rates over a 20-year period. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A standardized questionnaire on household overall smoking and household indoor tobacco smoking (HITS) habits was distributed to 8-9-years-old school children in the context of five cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1998 (n=3,076), 2003 (n=2,725), 2008 (n=2,688), 2013 (n=2,554) and 2018 (n=2,648). RESULTS: The parental overall smoking and HITS rates have substantially decreased during the study period (p-for-trend<0.001). However, while HITS declined among the fathers of asthmatic and non-asthmatic children as well as among the mothers of non-asthmatic ones (p-for-trend<0.001), it remained unchanged in the case of the mothers of asthmatic participants (p-for-trend 0.283). The mothers of asthmatic children consistently reported more HITS than those of non-asthmatic participants, while prevalence changes of current wheeze/asthma over the surveillance period were in complete agreement with changes in maternal HITS (cross-correlation coefficient 0.918 at zero-year lag) but not with paternal smoking behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Overall and indoor smoking rates of school children's adult family members declined substantially during the 1998-2018 period in Greece. However, no such trend was noted among mothers of asthmatic children, while temporal changes in maternal indoor smoking rates occurred in parallel with those of childhood asthma prevalence.

Small-airway dysfunction precedes the development of asthma in children with allergic rhinitis.

BACKGROUND: Epidemiological evidence suggests the existence of a direct link between allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma. Several studies also support the presence of small-airway dysfunction (SAD) in non-asthmatic children with AR. However, it remains unknown whether SAD can predict the progression of AR to asthma. Our objective was to explore the existence of SAD in non-asthmatic children with AR and to assessed its ability to predict the development of asthma. METHODS: Seventy-three 6-year-old children with intermittent moderate-severe AR but without asthma symptoms/medication within the last two years, underwent spirometry and measurement of respiratory resistance (Rrs) and reactance (Xrs) before and after bronchodilation (BD) (300mcg salbutamol). Lung function measurements were performed in the absence of nasal symptoms and repeated at AR exacerbation. SAD was defined as >30% decrease in Rrs or >50% increase in Xrs at 6 or 8Hz post-BD. Participants were followed for five years. RESULTS: Twenty-three children (31.5%) developed asthma; this group presented significant post-BD changes in Rrs and Xrs, but only at AR exacerbation. The ability of these changes to predict the development of asthma was exceptional and superior to that of the spirometric parameters. SAD (22 children, 30.1%), emerged as the single most efficient predictor of asthma, independently of other risk factors such as parental asthma, personal history of eczema and type of allergic sensitisation. CONCLUSION: SAD precedes the development of asthma in children with AR. Changes in respiratory impedance at AR exacerbation may assist in identifying those at risk to progress to asthma.

Breakfast consumption and meal frequency interaction with childhood obesity.

OBJECTIVES: Increased meal frequency and daily breakfast consumption have been inversely associated with childhood obesity. The purpose of the study was to examine the possible interaction effect between meal frequency and breakfast consumption on childhood obesity. METHODS: Seven hundred children (323 boys) aged 10-12 years were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Several lifestyle, dietary and physical activity characteristics were recorded with food frequency and physical activity questionnaires. Body height and weight were measured and body mass index was calculated in order to classify children as overweight or obese (International Obesity Task Force classification). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used in order to evaluate the interaction between daily breakfast intake and more than three meals per day consumption with overweight or obesity. RESULTS: Of the children, 27.6% and 9.0% were overweight and obese, respectively. Moreover, 60.2% consumed three or more meals per day and 62.7% consumed breakfast in a regular daily basis. Children who consumed more than three meals per day and also consumed breakfast daily, were two times less likely to be overweight or obese (adjusted odds ratio: 0.49, 95% confidence interval: 0.27-0.88). CONCLUSION: A combined higher meal frequency and daily breakfast consumption dietary pattern may prevent overweight and obesity in children.

Chlamydia pneumoniae infection among healthy children and children hospitalised with pneumonia in Greece.

Chlamydia pneumoniae has been recognized as a cause of respiratory tract infection in humans, and its prevalence has been shown to vary among different age groups and populations. The prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody was determined by serological investigation in 343 healthy children and in 77 children consecutively hospitalised for pneumonia in southwestern Greece. Seventy-eight (22.7%) healthy children had IgG Chlamydia pneumoniae titers > or =1/8. The prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody in the age groups 6 months-5 years, 6-9 years and 10-15 years was 7.9%, 11.4% and 36%, respectively. One child hospitalised for pneumonia had serological results consistent with acute Chlamydia pneumoniae infection. The results of the present study suggest a low prevalence of Chlamydia pneumoniae antibody among preschoolers in Greece, followed by a steep rise in children 10-15 years of age. Chlamydia pneumoniae is not a common etiologic agent of childhood pneumonia requiring hospitalisation.

Prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren in Patras, Greece: three surveys over 20 years.

BACKGROUND: The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of asthma among schoolchildren in 1978, 1991, and 1998 in Patras, Greece. METHODS: The study populations of the three comparable cross sectional surveys comprised third and fourth grade public school children in Patras, Greece. Sample sizes in 1978, 1991, and 1998 were 3735, 2952 and 3397 children and response rates were 80.4%, 81.9%, and 90.6%, respectively. Prevalence of current, non-current, and lifetime asthma or recurrent wheezing was determined by parental questionnaire. Personal communication with the parents of asthmatic children in 1991 and 1998 provided data on lost schooldays. RESULTS: Prevalence rates of current asthma or wheezing in 1978, 1991, and 1998 were 1.5%, 4.6%, and 6.0%, respectively (1978-91: p=0.01, 1991-98: p=0.02, 1978-98: p=0.03). Lifetime prevalences of asthma or wheezing in 1991 and 1998 were 8.0% and 9.6%, respectively (p=0.03). Current diagnosed asthma increased proportionally to diagnosed wheezing during 1991-98. The number of schooldays lost in the previous 2 years because of asthma did not change (p>0.1) between 1991 (0.31 per child) and 1998 (0.34 per child). CONCLUSIONS: Our results support a true increase in the prevalence of current and lifetime asthma in the last 20 years among pre-adolescent children in Patras, Greece.

Cognition in epilepsy: a multichannel event related potential (P300) study.

Auditory event-related potentials (AERP) were elicited in 68 epileptic patients and 30 age-matched controls. Epileptic patients had significantly prolonged N2 and P300 (P3) latencies compared with controls. Seven patients were above the range of 3 standard deviations from the control mean values. Amongst epileptics, patients with temporal lobe epilepsy had significantly prolonged P3 latencies compared to patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsy. Patients with abnormal EEGs had significantly prolonged P3 latencies compared to those with normal EEGs. Patients on anticonvulsant monotherapy had shorter P3 latencies, compared to patients taking a combination of two or more anticonvulsants. Patients on shorter duration of treatment had less prolonged P3 latencies compared to those on longer anticonvulsant treatment.

Cognition in homozygous beta-thalassemia disease: a multichannel auditory event-related potential (P300) study.

Auditory Event-Related Potentials (AERP) were elicited in 25 beta-thalassemic patients, three days before and three days after a blood transfusion. The amplitude, latency and topographic distribution of P300 (P3) as well as N1, P2, N2 components were measured for the two assessment times. No significant differences in either amplitude, latency or topography were observed between the two situations, but thalassemic patients had significantly prolonged P3 latencies comparing to controls though none of them exceeded 3 standard deviations of the control mean values. Regarding P3 topography, 10 out of 25 patients showed a right centroparietal distribution area. It is concluded that information processing, as far as it is reflected in AERP components is impaired in thalassemic patients and blood transfusion have no significant influence in cognitive functions.