Prevalence of Allergic Diseases and Risk Factors in Preschool Children, 2009

Young Hui Kim; Sang-Hwa Urm; Woo Kyung Kim

doi:10.7581/pard.2011.21.3.165

Journal List > Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis > v.21(3) > 1033123

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Kim, Urm, and Kim: Prevalence of Allergic Diseases and Risk Factors in Preschool Children, 2009

Abstract

Pediatr Allergy Respir Dis 2011;21(3):165-175.

Published online: 20 January 2011

DOI: https://doi.org/10.7581/pard.2011.21.3.165

Prevalence of Allergic Diseases and Risk Factors in Preschool Children, 2009

Young Hui Kim, MD¹, Sang-Hwa Urm, MD², Woo Kyung Kim, MD^1,^3,

¹Department of Pediatrics, Seoul Paik Hospital, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

²Department of Preventive Medicine, Inje University College of Medicine, Busan, Korea

³Allergy & Respiratory Research Laboratory, Inje University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

책임저자:김우경, 서울시 중구 저동 2가 85번지 서울백병원 소아청소년과 Tel:02)2270-0057 Fax:02)2270-0264 E-mail:ped3kim@yahoo.co.kr

Received 17 May 2011 Revised 14 July 2011 Accepted 27 July 2011

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

In Korea, there have been many epidemiologic studies about allergic diseases of school children, but so far only a few studies of preschool children have been done. Research on preschool children will be a great help to understand the epidemiology of the allergic diseases in the pediatric population. In this perspective, we researched the prevalence and risk factors of allergic diseases in preschool children in Jung-gu, Seoul.

Methods

A modified International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire survey was done on 917 (male, 492; female, 425) preschool children in Jung-gu area of Seoul in June, 2009. Parents or caregivers answered the questionnaires that asked about the prevalence of allergic diseases and the risk factors.

Results

For asthma, the prevalence of “wheeze, ever”, “diagnosis” and “treatment, last 12 months” were 18.4%, 5.8% and 2.8%, respectively. For allergic rhinitis (AR), the prevalence of “rhinitis, ever”, “diagnosis” and “treatment, last 12 months” were 31.8%, 16.2% and 12.9%, respectively. For atopic dermatitis (AD), the prevalence of “itchy rash, ever”, “diagnosis” and “treatment, last 12 months” were 26.1%, 34.3% and 19.0%, respectively. The risk factors of asthma were cesarean section delivery, use of antibiotics and history of bronchiolitis before the age of 2 years. The risk factor of AR was history of asthma. The risk factor of AD was parent allergy.

Conclusion

In comparison to preceding studies of preschool children in Seoul, the prevalence of allergic diseases is similar. In comparison to the studies of school children, the prevalence of AR was lower and the prevalence of AD was higher.

Keywords: Prevalence, Risk factor, Asthma, Allergic rhinitis, Atopic dermatitis, Preschool children

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Table 1.

Age and Sex Distribution of the Study Subjects

	No.	%
Sex
Male/Female	492/425	53.7/46.3
Age (yr)
2	51	5.6
3	122	13.3
4	142	15.5
5	210	22.9
6	222	24.2
7	170	18.5
Total	917	100

Table 2.

Prevalence of Allergic Diseases

	No. (%)
Asthma
Wheeze, ever	170 (18.4)
Wheeze, last 12 mo	123 (13.3)
Diagnosis, ever	54 (5.8)
Treatment, last 12 mo	26 (2.8)
Allergic rhinitis
Rhinitis, ever	294 (31.8)
Rhinitis, last 12 mo	243 (26.2)
Diagnosis, ever	150 (16.2)
Treatment, last 12 mo	119 (12.9)
Atopic dermatitis
Itchy rash, ever	242 (26.1)
Itchy rash, last 12 mo	200 (21.6)
Diagnosis, ever	318 (34.3)
Treatment, last 12 mo	176 (19.0)

Table 3.

Risk Factors of Asthma (aOR)

	aOR	95% CI	P -value
Sex
Male	1
Female	1.18	0.578–2.422	0.645
BMI
≤85 percentile	1
>85 percentile	1.22	0.461–3.212	0.691
Delivery
Vaginal delivery	1
Cesarean section	2.08	1.006–4.316	0.048
Breast milk feeding period
None	1
≤6 mo	1.36	0.528–3.510	0.688
>6 mo	1.36	0.542–3.421	0.677
Ever	1.35	0.584–3.139	0.480
Past history of AR dx.
No	1
Yes	2.27	0.357–14.449	0.385
Past history of AD dx.
No	1		1
Yes	1.91	0.501–7.252	0.344
Past history of bronchiolitis under 2 yr of age
No	1
Yes	4.71	2.184–10.155	<0.001
Antibiotics (≥3 days in 1st yr)
None	1
1–2	0.61	0.247–1.519	0.228
3–4	0.54	0.112–2.549	0.326
≥5	2.45	0.918–6.540	0.013
Maternal allergic diseases
No	1
Yes	0.57	0.112–2.944	0.505
Paternel allergic diseases
No	1
Yes	0.95	0.202–4.452	0.946
Maternal education
≤High school graduate	1
>High school graduate	1.27	0.459–3.497	0.948
Paternal education
≤High school graduate	1
>High school graduate	1.30	0.435–3.855	0.643
Older siblings
No	1
Yes	1.02	0.484–2.150	0.958
Younger siblings
No	1
Yes	0.92	0.413–2.028	0.826
Environmental tobacco smoking
No	1
Yes	0.80	0.370–1.745	0.581
Current pet ownership
No	1
Yes	0.33	0.039–2.868	0.317
Pet ownership in pregnancy or in infancy
No	1
Yes	1.05	0.215–5.101	0.954

aOR, adjusted odd ratio; CI, confidence interval; AR, allergic rhinitis; AD, atopic dermatitis; dx, diagnosis.

Table 4.

Risk Factors of Allergic Rhinitis (aOR)

	aOR	95% CI	P -value
Sex
Male	1
Female	0.60	0.375–0.975	0.039
BMI
≤85 percentile	1
>85 percentile	1.58	0.813–3.071	0.177
Delivery
Vaginal delivery	1
Cesarean section	1.50	0.928–2.412	0.098
Breast milk feeding period
None	1
≤6 mo	0.76	0.420–1.391	0.600
>6 mo	0.76	0.423–1.363	0.565
Ever	0.75	0.445–1.272	0.288
Past history of asthma dx.
No	1
Yes	3.01	1.111–8.146	0.030
Past history of AD dx.
No	1
Yes	1.13	0.514–2.493	0.759
Past history of bronchiolitis under 2 yr of age
No	1
Yes	1.38	0.800–2.380	0.247
Antibiotics (≥3 days in 1st yr)
None	1
1–2	1.48	0.856–2.547	0.430
3–4	2.62	1.199–5.732	0.152
≥5	2.35	1.111–4.967	0.271
Maternal allergic diseases
No	1
Yes	1.05	0.422–2.593	0.923
Paternel allergic diseases
No	1
Yes	2.15	0.896–5.135	0.087
Maternal education
≤High school graduate	1
>High school graduate	1.37	0.715–2.614	0.344
Paternal education
≤High school graduate	1
>High school graduate	1.24	0.621–2.466	0.545
Older siblings
No	1
Yes	1.03	0.624–1.684	0.922
Younger siblings
No	1
Yes	1.56	0.942–2.578	0.084
Environmental tobacco smoking
No	1
Yes	1.01	0.612–1.659	0.977
Current pet ownership
No	1
Yes	1.51	0.577–3.970	0.399
Pet ownership in pregnancy or in infancy
No	1
Yes	0.43	0.142–1.298	0.134

aOR, adjusted odd ratio; CI, confidence interval; AR, allergic rhinitis; AD, atopic dermatitis; dx, diagnosis.

Table 5.

Risk Factors of Atopic Dermatitis (aOR)

	aOR	95% CI	P -value
Sex
Male	1
Female	1.11	0.786–1.568	0.554
BMI
≤85 percentile	1
>85 percentile	0.79	0.472–1.332	0.380
Delivery
Vaginal delivery	1
Cesarean section	0.77	0.552–1.121	0.184
Breast milk feeding period
None	1
≤6 mo	0.66	0.418–1.038	0.062
>6 mo	0.89	0.579–1.360	0.620
Ever	0.77	0.519–1.131	0.180
Past history of asthma dx.
No	1
Yes	0.75	0.282–1.991	0.562
Past history of AR dx.
No	1
Yes	0.33	0.134–0.812	0.016
Past history of bronchiolitis under 2 yr of age
No	1
Yes	1.24	0.792–1.943	0.347
Antibiotics (≥3 days in 1st yr)
None	1
1–2	1.18	0.783–1.767	0.934
3–4	1.48	0.775–2.837	0.378
≥5	1.16	0.613–2.198	0.910
Maternal allergic diseases
No	1
Yes	3.64	1.558–8.507	0.003
Paternel allergic diseases
No	1
Yes	2.50	1.137–5.500	0.023
Maternal education
≤High school graduate	1
>High school graduate	1.55	0.954–2.510	0.077
Paternal education
≤High school graduate	1
>High school graduate	0.88	0.533–1.461	0.626
Older siblings
No	1
Yes	0.76	0.528–1.092	0.137
Younger siblings
No	1
Yes	1.18	0.817–1.715	0.374
Environmental tobacco smoking
No	1
Yes	0.95	0.660–1.377	0.800
Current pet ownership
No	1
Yes	0.85	0.407–1.763	0.657
Pet ownership in pregnancy or in infancy
No	1
Yes	1.22	0.623–2.406	0.558

aOR, adjusted odd ratio; CI, confidence interval; AR, allergic rhinitis; AD, atopic dermatitis; dx, diagnosis.

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