We read with interest the recent study in Indian Pediatrics by Chinnakkannan, et al. [1] on the above subject. There are certain methodological issues that we would like to raise. First, the children (<13 years) with asthma presenting first time to the clinic were included, but there was no mention of the basis of their diagnosis – whether based on history and clinical features only or combining them with spirometry. Second, there was no mention of sampling technique used for recruiting the participants for the study. It was probably a convenient sampling. Further there was no mention about sample size calculation and minimum required sample as authors were also trying to find the prevalence of the two conditions (allergic rhinitis and sinusitis) in children with asthma, and enrolment of minimum required sample is necessary for validity of the findings [2]. Third, the authors have mentioned that they have used multiple logistic regression model to determine the independent factors associated with asthma severity. However, it was not mentioned that in how many groups or categories the children were categorized based on asthma severity. Hence, it was not clear whether a binary logistic regression or ordinal logistic regression model was applied. Lastly, authors mentioned that use of computed tomography (CT) scan for diagnosis of sinusitis in the study might have led to lower estimate of the prevalence. However, it would have been better if they had mentioned the proportion of clinically suspected sinusitis cases having positive findings in CT scan and those not having any findings in CT.

1. Chinnakkannan SK, Singh M, Das RR, Mathew JL, Saxena KA. Association of allergic rhinitis and sinusitis with childhood asthma. Indian Pediatr. 2017;54:21-24.