[Acute admissions of asthmatic patients. Registration of acute admissions of patients with asthma at the pediatric clinic, Regionsykehuset, Trondheim 1988].

In 1988 there were 179 emergency admissions to the Department of Paediatrics, Regional Hospital, Trondheim, because of asthma. These comprised 22% of the total number of 812 admissions to the emergency unit this year. 178 of the 179 patients' records were found and used in this registration. 46% of the admissions referred to children who had previously been admitted for asthma. Half of the 179 admissions referred to children under 2.5 years of age, and 69% were boys. The main precipitating cause of the admissions was preceding respiratory infection. In 71% of the admissions the child had a family history of atopy. 125 patient records with information about the home environment showed that in 50% of these cases, the children were exposed to cigarette smoking and 34% had domestic animals at home. In 67% of the admissions the patients were taking antiasthmatic medication prior to hospitalization. The most frequently used drugs were Beta-2-agonists in mixture formulas. Less than 7% of the drugs used were corticosteroids. Management of childhood asthma may be improved and emergency admissions prevented by motivating parents to avoid potent allergens and exposure to tobacco smoke at home, supplemented by better education of patient and parents in antiasthmatic medication.