The Hospital Safety Scale for Kids: Development of a new measurement tool for hospitalized children.

This study aimed to develop an instrument to assess the perception of hospital safety among hospitalized children for preschool age children. An initial 30 items of the preliminary Hospital Safety Scale for Kids (HSS-Kids) were generated based on literature reviews and focus-group interviews. The 30 items were developed as different types of hospital-based incidents, situation scenarios, and pictorial animation cards for describing them. The evaluation process was conducted with a sample of 150 hospitalized children and their caregivers. Construct, convergent, and discriminant validities were tested by exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. For criterion validity, concurrent validity was confirmed, and reliability was established through Cronbach's α coefficients. The final 15 HSS-Kids hospital scenario picture cards were categorized into four subdomains, falls, general injuries, burns, and medical devices, which explained 62.92% of the total variance. The HSS-Kids demonstrated construct, convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity, with Cronbach's αs ranging from .649 to .792. The HSS-Kids is a promising instrument to screen children at high risk of incidents by capturing their perception on hospital safety.

Asthma predictive index as a useful diagnostic tool in preschool children: a cross-sectional study in Korea.

BACKGROUND: It is challenging to diagnose asthma in preschool children. The asthma predictive index (API) has been used to predict asthma and decide whether to initiate treatment in preschool children. PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the association between questionnaire-based current asthma with API, pulmonary function, airway hyperreactivity (AHR), fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO), and atopic sensitization in preschool children. METHODS: We performed a population-based cross-sectional study in 916 preschool children aged 4-6 years. We defined current asthma as the presence of both physician-diagnosed asthma and at least one wheezing episode within the previous 12 months using a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. Clinical and laboratory parameters were compared between groups according to the presence of current asthma. RESULTS: The prevalence of current asthma was 3.9% in the study population. Children with current asthma showed a higher rate of positive bronchodilator response and loose and stringent API scores than children without current asthma. The stringent API was associated with current asthma with 72.2% sensitivity and 82.0% specificity. The diagnostic accuracy of the stringent API for current asthma was 0.771. However, no intergroup differences in spirometry results, methacholine provocation test results, FeNO level, or atopic sensitization rate were observed. CONCLUSION: The questionnaire-based diagnosis of current asthma is associated with API, but not with spirometry, AHR, FeNO, or atopic sensitization in preschool children.

Recurrent wheeze and its relationship with lung function and airway inflammation in preschool children: a cross-sectional study in South Korea.

BACKGROUND: Relationship between recurrent wheeze and airway function and inflammation in preschool children is not fully known. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between recurrent wheeze and airway inflammation, lung function, airway hyper-reactivity (AHR) and atopy in preschool children. DESIGN: Observational study, comparing forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC) and mid-forced expiratory flow (FEF25%-75%), dose-response slope (DRS), exhaled nitric oxide (eNO) and atopic sensitisation between children with recurrent wheeze and those without. SETTING: Population-based, cross-sectional study in Seoul and the Gyeonggi province of Korea conducted as a government-funded programme to perform standardised measurement of the prevalence of allergic diseases, and related factors, in preschool children. PARTICIPANTS: 900 children aged 4-6 years. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: eNO, FEV1/FVC, FEF25%-75%, DRS, atopic sensitisation and allergic diseases. METHODS: Children completed the modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire and underwent eNO assessments, spirometry, methacholine bronchial provocation tests and skin prick tests. Recurrent wheeze was defined as having a lifetime wheeze of more than three episodes, based on the questionnaire. The frequency of hospitalisation and emergency room visits was also obtained by means of the questionnaire. 'Current' wheeze was defined as having symptoms or treatments within the past 12 months. RESULTS: The prevalence of recurrent wheeze was 13.4%. Children with recurrent wheeze showed a higher prevalence of lifetime or current allergic rhinitis (p=0.01 and p=0.002, respectively) and lifetime atopic dermatitis (p=0.007). Children with recurrent wheeze showed lower FEV1/FVC (p=0.033) and FEF25%-75% (p=0.004), and higher eNO levels (p=0.013) than those without recurrent wheeze. However, the DRS, prevalence of atopic sensitisation and serum IgE levels were not significantly different between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Recurrent wheeze in preschool children may be associated with airway inflammation and diminished airway function, but not with AHR or atopy.

Association between menarche and increased bronchial hyper-responsiveness during puberty in female children and adolescents.

PURPOSE: Bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR) is a key feature of asthma. The degree of BHR in children may be altered by several factors. We evaluated the prevalence of BHR according to age and gender in pediatric and adolescent population and analyzed the associated factors for gender differences. METHODS: Among the 2,067 subjects, methacholine challenge tests were performed in 1,820 children from one elementary and one middle school in Seoul, Korea. A total of 1,725 subjects between 6 and 14 years old were included in the analysis. The prevalence of BHR, defined as a provocative concentration that induced a 20% reduction of FEV1 (PC20 ) that was less than 8 mg/ml, was evaluated according to age and gender. Gender differences associated with BHR prevalence at each age were calculated and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify factors associated with BHR by gender. RESULTS: The prevalence of BHR (PC20 ≤ 8 mg/ml) for each gender decreased with age (P < 0.001). Although the prevalence of BHR linearly decreased in males with age, females showed an increase after 11 years of age. BHR in males was associated with a younger age (aOR, 0.797; 95%CI, 0.678-0.925), a higher blood eosinophil counts (%) (aOR, 1.160; 95%CI, 1.047-1.284), atopy (aOR, 2.091; 95%CI, 1.003-4.359), and a lower FEV1 /FVC ratio (aOR, 0.947; 95%CI, 0.901-0.995), and FEF25-75% (aOR, 0.980; 95%CI, 0.961-0.999). In females, BHR was significantly associated with a younger age (aOR, 0.845; 95%CI, 0.747-0.957), lower FEV1 (%) (aOR, 0.961; 95%CI, 0.938-0.984), and menarche (aOR, 3.674; 95%CI, 1.226-11.012). CONCLUSION: BHR declined with age in the Korean pediatric population. A younger age and reduced lung function were common factors related to BHR in both genders. Additionally, atopy was related to BHR in males, whereas sexual maturation was related to BHR in females. These findings have important clinical implications for evaluating of childhood BHR and asthma related to gender. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2016;51:1040-1047. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Exhaled nitric oxide as a better diagnostic indicator for evaluating wheeze and airway hyperresponsiveness in preschool children.

OBJECTIVE: Fractional concentration of exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO) is a known marker of airway inflammation. The aims of this study were to evaluate FeNO, impulse oscillometry (IOS), and spirometry in preschool children and to investigate their relationship with wheeze and airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR). METHODS: We performed a population-based, cross-sectional study with 561 children aged 5-6 years. A total of 544 children completed a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire and eligible for the study. We measured FeNO, spirometry, methacholine bronchial provocation, and IOS. AHR was defined as the induction of a 20% decrease in FEV(1)(PC(20)) by a methacholine concentration ≤8.0 mg/dL. RESULTS: Children who had wheeze or AHR had higher FeNO levels than children without these symptoms. However, neither IOS nor spirometry parameters showed significant differences between children with wheeze or AHR and those without. FeNO was associated with AHR, whereas IOS or spirometry parameters showed no association. Mean FeNO levels were positively correlated with a dose-response slope for methacholine, but neither IOS nor spirometry parameters showed significant correlations. CONCLUSIONS: FeNO is a more sensitive measurement of AHR and wheeze than spirometry or IOS in preschool children.