Relationships of bronchial responsiveness assessed by methacholine to serum IgE, lung function, symptoms, and diagnoses in 11-year-old New Zealand children

The relationship of bronchial responsiveness (BR), assessed by methacholine challenge, to serum IgE, baseline ventilatory function, and symptoms or diagnoses suggesting an atopic disorder were examined in 522 11-year-old New Zealand children. BR was assessed by the presence or absence of a PC20 25 mg/ml or less and by calculating a continuous index of the decline of the FEV1 during the methacholine test. The latter facilitated multivariate …