Background and Objective: Our knowledge of the impact on socioeconomic and disease status in individuals with previous severe childhood asthma is limited. The aim was to investigate characteristics  in individuals with a history of severe childhood asthma compared to the background population.

Methods: Registry-based cohort study in Danish individuals with a history of severe childhood asthma. The study cohort inclusion criteria was individuals with a previous 4-month stay at an asthma care center in Kongsberg, Norway, between 1950 and 1979. The main outcomes of interest were socioeconomic and disease characteristics.

Results: Of the 1401 individuals fulfilling the criteria, there was only information on 1394 cases and a matched control group (56.8% males and mean age 62.7 years). More controls (n=1394) than cases were married (54.7% versus 51.3%). More cases than controls had finished a master?s degree program (11.5% versus 7.8%). Of cases with previous childhood severe asthma, 9.1% had an early retirement due to permanently reduced work capacity  compared to 7.0% controls. Higher overall hospital admission rate (mean 3.9 [SD 5.7] versus mean 3.2 [SD 3.9], p=0.02) and overall longer duration of hospital admissions (mean 5.0 [SD 6.6] versus mean 3.9 [SD 4.8], p=0.002) was seen in cases compared to controls.

Conclusion: Elderly adults with previous childhood asthma had higher disease burden and earlier retirement but higher levels of formal education. These findings suggested that individuals with a history of childhood asthma constitute a heterogenous group regarding disease status, which provides insights into the long-term of severe childhood asthma.