Allergy Asthma Respir Dis.
2025 Jan;13(1):22-29. 10.4168/aard.2025.13.1.22.
Age of asthma onset and its relevance to adult asthma in the general population
- Affiliations
-
- 1Department of Internal Medicine, Veterans Health Service Medical Center, Seoul, Korea
- 2Department of Pulmonology and Allergy, Hyemin Hospital, Seoul, Korea
- 3Department of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine, Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Korea
- 4Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea
- 5Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Internal Medicine, Chung Buk National University College of Medicine, Cheongju, Korea
- 6Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Asan Medical Center, University of Ulsan College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea
- KMID: 2564817
- DOI: http://doi.org/10.4168/aard.2025.13.1.22
Abstract
- Purpose
The classification of asthma phenotypes frequently depends on the age of onset. However, the rationale for specific age cutoffs remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the distribution of asthma onset age, to define subgroups based on onset age, and to examine their characteristics within a broad Korean population.
Methods
An analysis of cross-sectional data involving 56,632 participants from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2010–2016) was conducted. Data on asthma history, including diagnosis, self-reported age of asthma onset, and current disease status, were collected using structured questionnaires.
Results
The distribution of asthma onset age showed a distinct peak in early childhood, with a decline between the ages 15 and 20. Based on this distribution, asthma was categorized into childhood-onset ( ≤ 18 years) and adult-onset ( > 18 years) for further analysis. Multivariate analyses indicated that adult-onset asthma was associated with older age, female sex, obesity, and a history of smoking, whereas childhood-onset asthma was linked to younger age, male sex, allergic rhinitis, and atopic dermatitis. Among the adultonset group, current asthma had a later onset age, increased history of smoking history, and atopic dermatitis compared to past asthma.
Conclusion
This analysis of nationwide general population data suggests that an age threshold around 18 years may be relevant for defining adult-onset asthma.
