Purpose – Compared with adults, children have a lower thirst sensitivity often leading to insufficient water intake. A negative water balance, termed dehydration, may result in neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic disturbances. An adequate water intake is important also in maintaining homeostasis of the airway epithelium and favouring mucociliary clearance. Little is known, however, on the possible association between dehydration and respiratory symptoms, including coughing. Aim - To investigate the relationship between dehydration and the prevalence, frequency and duration of cough episodes in children from a free-living general population. Methods – A questionnaire consisting of 32 questions designed to investigate the relationships between respiratory symptom, cough episodes, and daily water intake was distributed to the families of 400 students of primary and secondary school (6-16 years). From all participants, a urine sample was collected for osmolality measurements. Statistics. The Pearson Chi Square and the Fisher Exact Test were used for statistical comparisons; p<0.05 was taken as significant. Results – Valid data were obtained from 305/400 healthy students (mean±SD age 10.1±2.4; mean±SD osmolality 863.0± 223.0 mOsm/kg). The prevalence of cough was related to the level of osmolality (p<0.001). More specifically, in subjects with normal urine osmolality, the prevalence of cough was 54.2%; in mild dehydration it increased to 86.1%, and in severe dehydration cough prevalence rose to 93,9% (p<0.001). Conclusions – The results suggest a correlation between dehydration and the prevalence of cough in healthy children. In consequence, an adequate daily water intake may help to reduce the number of cough episodes in children.
Comments
No have any comment !