Do pulmonary and extrapulmonary characteristics differ between asthmatic and healthy children?

<bold>Introduction:</bold> Asthma is a chronic disease that may affect pulmonary and extrapulmonary characteristics. <bold>Objective:</bold> Our study aimed to compare the pulmonary and extrapulmonary characteristics of asthmatic children and adolescents with healthy age-matched controls. <bold>Methods:</bold> Volunteers aged 7 to 17 participated in the case-control study and were divided into two groups: the asthma (n=60) and the healthy control (n=40). Six-minute walk test, pulmonary function test, maximum inspiratory (MIP) and expiratory (MEP) pressure measurements, and and knee extensor strength test were performed. <bold>Results:</bold> The study showed that exercise capacity and respiratory and peripheral muscle strength were significantly lower compared to controls (p<0.001, p=0.031, p=0.001, p=0.025 respectively). There was no difference in the results obtained from pulmonary function test between the groups (p>0.05) <bold>Conclusions:</bold> Clinicians should not ignore that children and adolescents with asthma have some impairments in exercise capacity, respiratory and peripheral muscle strength compared to healthy children even if pulmonary function test results showed mostly normal patterns and should evaluate these parameters and include them in pulmonary rehabilitation programs.