All-cause hospital admissions and incidence of asthma in children in Kazakhstan: a population-based retrospective cohort study

This study describes the incidence of asthma and all-cause hospital admissions among children in Kazakhstan diagnosed between 2014 and 2021. In this retrospective cohort study, we included children aged 0-17 years diagnosed with asthma (ICD-10 codes J45.x) and registered in the Unified National Electronic Health System (UNEHS) during 2014-2021. In the outpatient asthma subgroup, we analyzed asthma incidence rates per 100,000 population and all-cause hospitalization rates per 1,000 person-years. Cox regression was used to assess hospitalization risks. The cohort included 53,463 children, 63.7% male, 47.9% aged 5-11 years, and 74.1% urban residents. The incidence rate ranged from 67.5 to 185.9 among boys and 38.2 to 115.7 among girls per 100,000 population, highest in the 5-11 age group (308-351 cases). Among 31,525 outpatients, 915 (2.8%) were hospitalized, with an incidence rate of 6.91 per 1,000 person-years. The 5-11 age group had a 2.59 times higher hospitalization risk than the 0-4 age group. Respiratory infections, allergic rhinitis, and acute rhinosinusitis were the factors associated with the highest risks of hospitalization (HRs: 14.48, 12.95, and 7.28, respectively). The insights from this study enhance our understanding of asthma in Kazakhstan and offer valuable lessons applicable to similar contexts globally.