817: Maternal bronchial asthma is an independent risk factor for long-term respiratory morbidity of the offspring

Objective
To investigate whether maternal bronchial asthma increases the risk for long-term respiratory morbidity of the offspring.
Study Design
A population-based cohort study compared the incidence of long-term pediatric hospitalizations due to respiratory disease of the offspring of mothers with and without bronchial asthma. Deliveries occurred between the years 1991-2014 in a tertiary medical center. Congenital malformations as well as multiple pregnancies were excluded. Kaplan-Meier survival curve was used to estimate cumulative incidence of respiratory morbidity. A multivariate generalized estimating equation (GEE) logistic regression model analysis was used to control for confounders and for maternal clusters.

Results
During the study period 256,299 deliveries met the inclusion criteria; of which 1.3% were born to mothers with bronchial asthma (n=3,449). During the follow-up period, children born to women with bronchial asthma had a significantly higher rate of long-term respiratory morbidity. Specifically, the rate of childhood bronchial asthma was higher among offspring of mothers with bronchial asthma (table). Children born to women with asthma had higher cumulative incidence of respiratory morbidity (Kaplan-Meier survival curves; figure). Using a multivariable GEE logistic regression model, controlling for the time to event, maternal age and gestational age at delivery, maternal bronchial asthma was found to be an independent risk factor for long-term respiratory disease of the offspring (adjusted OR =1.6; 95% CI 1.4-1.9; p<0.001), and specifically for bronchial asthma (adjusted OR =2.5; 95% CI 1.9-3.1; p<0.001).
Conclusion
Maternal bronchial asthma is an independent risk factor for long-term respiratory morbidity of the offspring.