Childhood Asthma and Antibiotic Exposure

To answer the research question ‘what is the relationship between asthma occurrence in children and antecedents of systemic antibiotic use in the first year of life?’ this study aims to estimate current incidence density of first asthma occurrence as a function of antecedents of systemic antibiotic use in the first year of life in the domain ‘children’ (i.e. persons between birth and puberty). The ‘primary endpoint’ of this study is the incidence density ratio (IDR) as a measure of the strength of the association. In order to allow for a causal interpretation, sex, parental education, breast feeding for at least 6 months, lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), paracetamol (acetaminophen) use in the first year of life, day-care attendance, environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), parental asthma and atopic dermatitis prior to onset were considered either as modifiers or confounders.