LAUSR

BACKGROUND The present cross-sectional study investigated the associations between low birthweight (LBW), high birthweight, preterm birth (PTB), postterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), and large for gestational age (LGA) and the prevalence of wheeze and asthma in Japanese children aged three years (age range, 33-54 months; mean age, 38.7 months). METHODS Study subjects were 6364 children. A questionnaire was used to collect all data. Wheeze and asthma were defined according to the criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. RESULTS The prevalence values of wheeze and asthma were 19.5% and 7.7%, respectively. Of the 6364 subjects, 8.8% were classified as LBW (<2500g), 90.4% as normal birthweight, 0.8% as high birthweight (≥4000g), 4.8% as PTB (<37 weeks), 94.8% as term birth, 0.4% as postterm birth (≥42 weeks), 7.8% as SGA (<10th percentile), 82.5% as appropriate for gestational age, and 9.7% as LGA (>90th percentile). Compared with term birth, PTB was independently positively associated with wheeze and asthma: the adjusted ORs (95% CI) were 1.47 (1.11-1.92) and 1.52 (1.02-2.20), respectively. An independent positive association was shown between PTB and wheeze only in boys; the interaction between PTB and sex was significant. Such an interaction between PTB and sex was not seen for asthma. No evident associations were observed between LBW, high birthweight, postterm birth, SGA, or LGA and wheeze or asthma. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study in Japan to show that PTB, but not LBW or SGA, was significantly positively associated with childhood wheeze and asthma.