摘要：Background :Diagnosis of asthma in preschool children are challenging. The Asthma Predictive Index (API) is being used as a tool to predict asthma and decide whether to initiate treatment in preschool children. Purpose :The aim of this study was to investigate the association of questionnaire-based current asthma with the API, pulmonary function, airway hyperreactivity (AHR), fractional expiratory nitric oxide (FeNO), and atopic sensitization in preschool children. Methods :We performed a population-based, cross-sectional study in preschool children aged 4-6 years. We defined current asthma as the presence of both physician-diagnosed asthma and at least one wheezing episode within the last 12 months in a modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire. We enrolled 916 children. Clinical and laboratory parameters were compared between groups according to the presence of current asthma. Results :The prevalence of current asthma was 3.9% in our study population. Children with current asthma showed a higher rate of positive bronchodilator response and loose and stringent APIs than did children without current asthma. The stringent API was associated with current asthma with 72.2% sensitivity and 82.0% specificity. The diagnostic accuracy of the stringent API for current asthma was 0.771. However, no difference in spirometry results, methacholine provocation test results, fractional expiratory nitric oxide level, and atopic sensitization rate were observed between the two groups. Conclusion :s: The questionnaire-based diagnosis of current asthma is associated with the API, but not with spirometry, AHR, FeNO, and atopic sensitization in preschool children.
