No evidence that early use of inhaled corticosteroids reduces current asthma at 10 years of age

SummaryBackgroundIt is debated whether early treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) can change the natural course of childhood asthma.AimTo assess if ICS treatment before 2 years of age in children with obstructive airways disease reduces current asthma at 10 years of age.MethodsChildren with (n = 233) and without (n = 219) recurrent (r) bronchial obstruction (BO) attending clinical examination at 2 years of age in the birth cohort Environment and Childhood Asthma study in Oslo, were reinvestigated at 10 years of age. Current asthma (CA) at 10 years was defined as asthma with either symptoms and/or asthma treatment during the last year, and/or ⩾10% fall in forced expired volume in 1s after standardized treadmill run. The risk of CA was assessed by logistic regression and propensity modelling (including gender, parental atopy and severity score at 2 years) in children with rBO who received ICS or not by 2 years.ResultsCA was found in 97 children, more often among rBO children with (56.9%) and without ICS treatment (30.8%) compared to no-BO children (5.5%) (p