Time-dependent severity change during treatment of pediatric patients hospitalized for acute asthma exacerbations

Pediatric acute asthma exacerbations result in 640,000 emergency department (ED) visits yearly and are the most frequent reason for childhood hospitalization in the United States.1–4 Hospitalization decisions are most often made in the ED, and there is substantial variability of admission rates (median, 24%; interquartile range [IQR], 19%–29%; range, 12%–52%) across US children's hospitals.2 This variability likely results, at least in part, from limited knowledge of what defines need for hospitalization in clinical practice and in National Institutes of Health (NIH) guidelines.

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