Table 1.

Comparison of childhood and adult asthma.

Feature	Childhood asthma	Adult asthma
Variable Phenotypes	Yes	Yes
Symptoms	Age 0–6 years: Cough, wheezing, acute episodes of dyspnea and increased work of breathing Age 6–11 years: cough, wheezing, dyspnea or cough with exertion Age 11–18 years: cough, wheezing, dyspnea, dyspnea on exertion, chest tightness, chest pain	Shortness of breath, wheeze, chest tightness and cough. Allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis: Above symptoms plus sputum production. Aspirin exacerbated respiratory disease: Above symptoms plus nasal polyps and sensitivity to aspirin.
Sex predominance	Males < 10 years	Females
Remission	Common	Rare
Factors associated with severity	Asthma duration, medication use, lung function, neutrophilic phenotype, low socioeconomic status, racial/ethnic minorities	IgE, FeNO, eosinophilia, obesity, smoking, low socioeconomic status
Mortality	Rare	Uncommon