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Paed Asthma – Reducing asthma symptoms

Evidence Summary
Self-reported asthma symptom scoring and number of symptom free days have been examined in a small amount of studies. Improvements in asthma control and experience of asthma related symptoms were all improved within groups undertaking a physical activity intervention.


Quality of Evidence
B – moderate quality
Strength of Recommendation
1C. Strong recommendation, low quality evidence due to limited number of studies.


Conclusion
Daily physical activity has been found to improve self-reported asthma symptoms and asthma control. Due to the limited number of studies using this as an outcome measure it is not possible to recommend one level of exercise intensity over another. Reassuringly no studies reported any worsening of clinical symptoms in groups that exercised.


References
Andrade, L. B., M. C. Britto, N. Lucena-Silva, R. G. Gomes and J. N. Figueroa (2014). “The efficacy of aerobic training in improving the inflammatory component of asthmatic children. Randomized trial.” Respir Med 108(10): 1438-1445.
Vahlkvist, S. and S. Pedersen (2009). “Fitness, daily activity and body composition in children with newly diagnosed, untreated asthma.” Allergy 64(11): 1649-1655.
Wanrooij, V. H., M. Willeboordse, E. Dompeling and K. D. van de Kant (2014). “Exercise training in children with asthma: a systematic review.” Br J Sports Med 48(13): 1024-1031.
Zhang, Y. F. and L. D. Yang (2019). “Exercise training as an adjunctive therapy to montelukast in children with mild asthma: A randomized controlled trial.” Medicine (Baltimore) 98(2): e14046.