Heterogeneity of severe asthma in childhood: confirmation by cluster analysis of children in the National Institutes of Health/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Severe Asthma Research Program.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Asthma in children is a heterogeneous disorder with many phenotypes. Although unsupervised cluster analysis is a useful tool for identifying phenotypes, it has not been applied to school-age children with persistent asthma across a wide range of severities.

Objectives

This study determined how children with severe asthma are distributed across a cluster analysis and how well these clusters conform to current definitions of asthma severity.

Methods

Cluster analysis was applied to 12 continuous and composite variables from 161 children at 5 centers enrolled in the Severe Asthma Research Program.

Results

Four clusters of asthma were identified. Children in cluster 1 (n = 48) had relatively normal lung function and less atopy. Children in cluster 2 (n =

SUBMITTER: Fitzpatrick AM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3060668 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature