Original ArticlesReduced height in Swedish men with asthma at the age of conscription for military service☆
Section snippets
Swedish conscription data
Sweden has compulsory military service; about 45,000 to 60,000 male Swedish citizens are called for mandatory conscription every year, usually during the year they turn 18 years old. Approximately 1,500 to 2,000 each year do not qualify for conscription for various reasons—for example, they live abroad, or are disabled or institutionalized. A standardized medical examination is performed at the conscription. We examined computerized conscription medical records for the years 1983, 1986, 1993,
Mean heights in conscripts with and without asthma
Of the 61,050 male Swedish citizens who turned 18 in 1983, 87% were conscripted that same year. Corresponding figures for the other years are 75% of 56,033 in 1986, 76% of 51,293 in 1993, and 83% of 46,869 in 1996. The mean height of Swedish conscripts with asthma for the years 1983, 1986, 1993, and 1996 combined was 178.6 cm (SD = 6.6 cm, n = 8,531) and without asthma was 179.3 cm (Std = 6.6 cm, n = 164,503). The minimum recorded height was 138 cm and the maximum was 213 cm. The mean height of
Discussion
In children with asthma, growth represents the sum effect of both asthma treatment and of asthma itself. The present data constitute the largest population-based assessment of asthma and height available. Furthermore, the period in the present study is unique in that it covers a time when inhaled steroids were introduced in asthma treatment.
This study demonstrates a relationship between height and both having the diagnosis of asthma and severity of asthma. It is obvious from the present study
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