Prevalence of Childhood Asthma and Allergies and Their Associations with Perinatal Exposure to Home Environmental Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Tianjin, China.

Agnes S Ellie,Pan Wang,Jing Hou,Qingnan Zhang,Yuexia Sun,Jan Sundell

doi:10.3390/ijerph18084131

Agnes S Ellie, Pan Wang + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18084131

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Abstract

Asthma, rhinitis, and eczema are becoming increasingly prevalent among children in China. Studies have shown that the perinatal period is critical and impacts children’s health. However, research on the associations between perinatal factors and childhood allergic diseases in China are few. We investigated 7366 children of ages 0–8 years old. The childhood asthma and allergies were surveyed by distributing questionnaires, modelled after Dampness in Buildings and Health (DBH) study in Sweden and had been validated. To determine the prevalence of the allergic conditions, explore for potential confounders, and analyze the associations between the allergies and the home environmental factors, chi-square test and binary logistic regression models (enter method) were employed. The prevalence of children’s doctor-diagnosed asthma, rhinitis, and eczema were 4.4%, 9.5%, and 39.1%, respectively. After adjusting for sociodemographic factors, the negative effect of dampness/humidity on children’s health became more obvious, with odd ratios (aORs) of up to 1.70 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.12–2.57) for doctor-diagnosed asthma (DDA), 2.12 (95% CI: 1.38–3.25) for doctor-diagnosed rhinitis (DDR) and 1.79 (95% CI: 1.46–2.21) for doctor-diagnosed eczema (DDE). With parental smoking, aORs of up to 4.66 (95% CI: 1.99–10.92) for DDA and 1.74 (95%: 1.00–3.02) for DDE. Renovation exhibited aORs of up to 1.67 (95% CI: 1.13–2.47) for DDR. Although they showed no significant associations with some of the health outcomes, contact with animals, in general, were risk factors for the allergic conditions. Generally, the indoor environmental factors around the perinatal period were significant risk factors for the doctor-diagnosed allergic conditions discussed in this study.

Highlights

The prevalence of childhood asthma and other allergies and their associated cost of management is rising globally [1]
This work systematically investigated the association between perinatal exposure to several indoor environmental factors with asthma and allergy in China’s Tianjin area
The findings indicated an increased prevalence in allergic conditions, but the prevalence was higher in the urban areas than was in rural communities

Summary

Introduction

The prevalence of childhood asthma and other allergies and their associated cost of management is rising globally [1]. This worldwide increased frequency of these allergic diseases, especially asthma, is observed in China [2] and is a significant concern. Studies conducted in China mainly concerned the association between children’s allergic diseases and the home environmental and lifestylerelated factors [3]; few focused on the perinatal period, defined as the stage of child development beginning from the start of pregnancy to the end of the child’s first year of life.

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