Abstract
BackgroundThis study investigated the prevalence of wheezing, asthma, and eczema among Australian children using longitudinal data from birth to 15 years of age. This study also examined the association between maternal health status during pregnancy and their offspring’s respiratory and allergic morbidities using sex-segregated data.MethodsThis study used data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) where approximately 5000 children of a birth cohort across Australia were surveyed in 2004. These children were followed biennially in eight waves up to their age of 15 years until 2018. The status of the children’s wheezing, asthma, and eczema were reported by the mothers upon doctors’ diagnosis (for asthma) or self-assessment (for wheezing or eczema). Binomial logistic regression models were used to analyse associations between maternal health during pregnancy and their children’s health outcomes.ResultsAsthma prevalence among 0–1-year aged children was 11.7%, increased to 15.4% when the children were 10–11 years old, and then decreased to 13.6% when they were 14–15 years old. Wheezing and eczema were most prevalent when the children were 2–3 years old (26.0 and 17.8% respectively) and were least prevalent when the children were 14–15 years old (7.3 and 9.5% respectively). Maternal asthma, smoking during pregnancy, and pre-pregnancy obesity were significantly associated with an increased risk of wheezing and asthma in Australian children. Childhood eczema was associated only with maternal asthma. These associations were stronger among male children up to age 10–11 and during adolescence (12–15 years of age), female children were more prone to wheezing, asthma, and eczema.ConclusionThis is a comprehensive longitudinal study of Australian children (0–15 years of age) to assess the prevalence (with sex-specific differences) of wheezing, asthma and eczema as well as the association between these respiratory and allergic morbidities and maternal health during pregnancy. The study findings suggest that careful medical and obstetric monitoring, improved specific age-sex wise risk factor prevention for children and health promotion for pregnant women would help protect child health.
Highlights
This study investigated the prevalence of wheezing, asthma, and eczema among Australian children using longitudinal data from birth to 15 years of age
Consistent with earlier studies [12, 14, 23, 27, 40, 42], this study found that maternal asthma during pregnancy, smoking during pregnancy, and pre-pregnancy obesity were significantly associated with increased risks of wheezing and asthma among Australian children
This study found that maternal asthma, obesity, and smoking during pregnancy were significantly associated with an increased risk of offspring’s wheezing or asthma
Summary
This study investigated the prevalence of wheezing, asthma, and eczema among Australian children using longitudinal data from birth to 15 years of age. Childhood respiratory and allergic diseases, wheezing, asthma, and eczema, are leading causes of global morbidity [1]. A longitudinal study conducted in 2009 found that 16.9% of Australian children, born in 2004, experienced wheezing or asthma within the first 3 years of life [3]. Asthma and eczema [4] pose significant long-term health burdens to children, such as poor lung function or development of persistent asthma in later life [5,6,7,8]. Comprehensive research related to longitudinal prevalence of wheezing, asthma, and eczema among children, taking maternal health during pregnancy into account, is a public health priority
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