The present study has several limitations. First, the crosssectional
design of this study did not allow inferences to be
made on the causal effects between independent variables
and the occurrence of asthma symptoms. Second, the participants
were asked only about the presence of wheezing or
whistling sounds in the previous 12 months, and the frequency,
duration, and severity of any asthma symptoms,which might be associated with health risk behaviors, were
not measured.Third, the participants might have struggled to
remember any isolated occurrence of their symptoms during
the previous 12 months. Despite these study limitations, to
the best of our knowledge, this study is the first report on the
association of asthma symptoms with smoking and alcohol
consumption in a representative sample of the adolescent
population in Korea. The study results provide information
for healthcare providers to manage health risk behaviors of
adolescents with asthma.