Consequences of an absent diagnostic instrument for an early diagnosis in wheezing children
palpitations, tremor, wheezing, underdiagnosis, asthma, wheeze
ASTHMA
In current clinical practice, the absence of a proper diagnostic test for an early asthma diagnosis in young children leads to at least 2 major health problems: 1) children with asthma are frequently underdiagnosed and undertreated; 2) children with transient wheeze are often overtreated with asthma medication.Considerable underdiagnosis and undertreatment occurs in young children with asthma [Overtreatment of children with transient wheeze occurs with an increased risk of side effects of ICS and bronchodilators such as reduced linear growth, tremor, and palpitations [Therefore, a predictive instrument for an early asthma diagnosis will be of great importance to improve treatment of and care for the large group of young children with wheezing symptoms, and will probably lead to a substantial reduction in the cost of care.