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Paediatric asthma deaths in Ireland: 2006–2016

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Irish Journal of Medical Science (1971 -) Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

Asthma is the commonest chronic condition in childhood but mortality from asthma during childhood is a rare occurrence. No national review into asthma deaths in children in Ireland has been performed to date.

Aim

The aim of this study was to review all cases of mortality from asthma in the paediatric population over a 10-year period in Ireland. The objective was to identify risk factors contributing to asthma deaths in children.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was performed on cases reported to the National Paediatric Mortality Register (NPMR) with asthma as the primary cause of death.

Results

Eleven cases were reported. Consent was obtained for six cases. Median age at death was 11.8 years. All patients presented to the Emergency Department (ED) in asystole. Fifty percent of patients had acute symptoms prior to the fatal episode. None of the patients was attending secondary services. Only 60% had a written personalised asthma action plan (PAAP).

Conclusion

Our data suggests that most patients present in extremis and have little warning signs of severity of the attack. Better education on recognition of symptoms and initiation of action plans is required.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Respiratory Department, Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital, Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland

    Sarah C. Richardson & Des W. Cox

  2. Paediatric Department, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Aisling M. O’Riordan

  3. Graduate Entry Medical School and Centre for Interventions in Infection, Inflammation & Immunity (4i), University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Barry Linnane

  4. National Children’s Research Centre, Crumlin, Dublin, Ireland

    Barry Linnane

  5. School of Medicine, University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Des W. Cox

Authors
  1. Sarah C. Richardson
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  2. Aisling M. O’Riordan
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  3. Barry Linnane
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  4. Des W. Cox
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Contributions

Dr. Des Cox and Dr. Sarah Richardson contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection and analysis were performed by Dr. Sarah Richardson, Dr. Aisling O’Riordan, Dr. Barry Linnane and Dr. Des Cox. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Dr. Sarah Richardson and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sarah C. Richardson.

Ethics declarations

This retrospective study was performed in line with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted by the Ethics Committee of CHI (Children’s Health Ireland) at Crumlin. Informed consent was sought from the next of kin and data obtained from patients in which signed written informed consent forms were received.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Richardson, S.C., O’Riordan, A.M., Linnane, B. et al. Paediatric asthma deaths in Ireland: 2006–2016. Ir J Med Sci 189, 1337–1342 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02234-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-020-02234-2

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