Parental childhood respiratory illness and respiratory illness in their infants. Group Health Medical Associates.

Parental histories of childhood respiratory trouble (CRT) were examined as risk factors for lower respiratory tract illnesses in healthy infants enrolled in the Children's Respiratory Study, Tucson, Arizona. A parental history of childhood respiratory trouble before age 16 was a risk factor for infantile lower respiratory tract illnesses (LRIs). Early age of onset of the parental CRT and those illnesses described as asthma or bronchiolitis showed the greatest risk: odds ratio = 2.8, P < 0.05. After controlling for known and suspected confounders, a parental history of CRT described as asthma or bronchiolitis with onset before age 3 was associated with wheezing LRIs in their children, with an odds ratio of 2.6, P < 0.05. A parental history of CRT described as bronchitis/croup was associated with nonwheezing LRIs in their children: odds ratio = 2.2, P < 0.05. These findings suggest a familial component to childhood respiratory trouble which may have a hereditary basis.