In those areas, children from poorer families are 2.6 times more likely to be admitted to the ICU with severe asthma than children from wealthy parents. The research is based on an analysis of approximately 4.5 million Dutch children aged 2 to 17 years. The risk of severe asthma in children is also greater in Flevoland, Haaglanden and Rotterdam-Rijnmond.
In the Netherlands, approximately 2,300 children are admitted to hospital every year with severe asthma. Some of them end up in the ICU.
Now the same treatment
“As a doctor, I noticed that many patients in the hospital come from families with low incomes, poor living conditions or a migration background,” says Berber Captain of the Emma Children’s Hospital who led the study. Children with severe asthma currently all receive the same therapy with the same medications. “We are not yet including the risk factors in the treatment,” says the pediatric intensivist.
Kapitein has been conducting research into severe asthma in children for years and therefore advocates taking the socio-economic background of patients into account in addition to hereditary or medical factors. She hopes policymakers will become more aware of the risks that asthma can cause and take measures to reduce them. “Of course, you cannot simply change the socio-economic situation of a family and moving is often not an option.”
Follow-up research into causes
The results from Kapitein’s research show connections, but no causes. In collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam, the GGD and sociologists, follow-up research is now being conducted in people’s homes. The researchers hope to find out which causes can worsen asthma in a family situation.
“We also look at whether mold or poor ventilation are a factor, or for example air pollution around the home,” says Kapitein. With the results, the researchers hope to be able to draw up recommendations to ensure better living conditions at home.