Chapter 9 Summary and conclusions Summary

This thesis deals with the predictability of the presence and the course of asthma in adult age on the basis of measurements in childhood obtained in asthmatic children. These measurements are: history, physical examination, pulmonary function, airway hyperreactivity on inhalation of histamine and house dust, skin tests, and blood eosinophils. The results of these measure-ments were compared with the results obtained in adulthood. The study was instigated by the concern of most parents of asthmatic children about the prognosis of their child. In pediatric practice, one of the most common questions from parents of asthmatic children is: 'At what age will my child outgrow his or her complaints? ' When they are told that about one half of the asthmatic children will be symptom-free in adulthood, their subsequent question is: 'On what grounds can we determine whether my child will outgrow his or her symptoms? ' With the aim of solving part of this complex puzzle, we carried out a follow-up study in a group of 119 known asthmatic children, aged 6 to 14. These children had previously been investigated between 1966 and 196