Background: a management strategy based on treatable traits (TT) has been proposed for chronic airways diseases. TT are pulmonary and extrapulmonary conditions that can be recognized by validated markers and modified by treatment
Aims and objetives: We hypothesized that in children with asthma different validated instruments would allow us to identify TT. We evaluated whether different TT were associated with other, and if the prevalence of TT varied between children with severe and moderate asthma (SA vs MA).
Methods: We included baseline data from children (6-18 years) who participated in three prospective observational studies. In these studies we use some instruments that we assumed as markers of Treatable Traits of interest: 1) anthropometry (overweight and obesity); 2) FENO (Th2 inflammation); 3) basal and postbronchodilator spirometry (airflow limitation and bronchodilator reversibility); and Pediatric Sleep Questionnire (sleep-disordered breathing). The prevalence of these TTs was estimated and it was compared between SA and MA (Fischer test).
Results: 163 children (median 11 years (5-18), 77% with SA). Only 25 % of them did not have a TT; 39% have one TT and the rest coexistence of 2 to 5 TT. Elevated Th2 airway inflammation (42%), SDB (36%) and airflow limitation (29%) were the most frequent TT.
Conclusions: pulmonary and extrapulmonary TT are frequent in severe and moderate asthmatic children.