Association of Severe Bronchiolitis during Infancy with Childhood Asthma Development: An Analysis of the ECHO Consortium

Objective: Many studies have shown that severe (hospitalized) bronchiolitis during infancy is a risk factor for developing childhood asthma. However, the population subgroups at the highest risk remain unclear. Using large nationwide pediatric cohort data, namely the NIH Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Program, we aimed to quantify the longitudinal relationship of bronchiolitis hospitalization during infancy with asthma in a generalizable dataset and to examine potential heterogeneity in terms of major demographics and clinical factors. Methods: We analyzed data from infants (age