Asthma-like symptoms in the first year of life and health-related quality of life at age 12 months: the Generation R study

Purpose This study compares HRQOL among subgroups of infants with asthma-like symptoms to a subgroup without such symptoms and examines independent associations between asthma-like symptoms during the first year of life and HRQOL at age 12 months. Methods Our study sample included 5,000 infants participating in the Generation R study. Their parents completed structured questionnaires to obtain information on asthma-like symptoms, HRQOL, infants', and maternal characteristics. Asthma-like symptoms were defined according to the number of positive answers to 12 items on lower respiratory symptoms. HRQOL was measured using the ITQOL. Higher scores indicated better HRQOL. Results Infants with asthma-like symptoms had significantly lower HRQOL scores for all ITQOL scales. Among the subgroup with severe symptoms (4% of the infants), relevant deficits in HRQOL were observed for most ITQOL scales, particularly for General Health, Bodily Pain, and Family Activities (effect sizes >= 0.8). In multivariate linear models, asthma-like symptoms were independently associated with 6 ITQOL scales. The population attributable risks were especially high for Family Activities, General Health, Parental Emotional, and Parental Time. Conclusions Asthma-like symptoms during the first year of life are associated with impaired quality of life at age 12 months. At population level, asthma-like symptoms were associated with lower HRQOL, regardless of symptom severity.