Pulmonary Function and Incident Bronchitis and Asthma in Children: A Community-Based Prospective Cohort Study

Previous studies revealed that reduction of airway caliber in infancy might increase the risks for wheezing and asthma. However, the evidence for the predictive effects of pulmonary function on respiratory health in children was still inconsistent.We conducted a population-based prospective cohort study among children in 14 Taiwanese communities. There were 3,160 children completed pulmonary function tests in 2007 and follow-up questionnaire in 2009. Poisson regression models were performed to estimate the effect of pulmonary function on the development of bronchitis and asthma. and MMEF on bronchitis and also for MMEF on asthma.Children with high pulmonary function would have lower risks on the development of bronchitis and asthma. The protective effect of high pulmonary function would be modified by traffic-related air pollution exposure