Prevalence and risk factors of childhood allergic diseases in eight metropolitan cities in China: A multicenter study

Abstract

BackgroundSeveral studies conducted during the past two decades suggested increasing trend of childhood allergic diseases in China. However, few studies have provided detailed description of geographic variation and explored risk factors of these diseases. This study investigated the pattern and risk factors of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in eight metropolitan cities in China.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey during November-December 2005 in eight metropolitan cities in China. A total of 23791 children aged 6-13 years participated in this survey. Questions from the standard questionnaire of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Children (ISAAC) were used to examine the pattern of current asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema. Logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the risk factors for childhood allergies.ResultsThe average prevalence of childhood asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema across the eight cities was 3∙3% (95% Confidence interval (CI): 3∙1%, 3∙6%), 9∙8% (95% CI: 9∙4%, 10∙2%) and 5∙5% (95% CI: 5∙2%, 5∙8%), respectively. Factors related to lifestyle, mental health and socio-economic status were found to be associated with the prevalence of childhood allergies. These risk factors were unevenly distributed across cities and disproportionately affected the local prevalence.ConclusionsThere was apparent geographic variation of childhood allergies in China. Socio-environmental factors had strong impacts on the prevalence of childhood allergies; but these impacts differed across regions. Thus public health policies should specifically target at the local risk factors for each individual area.

Ten cities cross-sectional questionnaire survey of children asthma and other allergies in China

“…In comparison with earlier studies, the prevalences of parentally reported wheeze, rhinitis and eczema, and parentally reported doctor-diagnosed asthma were high, indicating increased prevalences of these symptoms and diseases. Other recent studies [4,[46][47][48][49][50][51]are in agreement with these findings.…”

“…China, a developing country, is experiencing rapid and dramatic changes in indoor environment exposures due to its rapid modernization and urbanization. National surveys of asthma in Chinese children aged 0-14 years in 1990 and 2000 by the Childhood Asthma Collaborative Group of China [41] as well as a number of other studies indicate that asthma and allergies have increased in China [4,7,[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51]. However, information about indoor exposure has been included to only a small extent and in only a few studies [52,53].…”

Housing characteristics and indoor environment in relation to children’s asthma, allergic diseases and pneumonia in Urumqi, China

“…However, how much was physician diagnosed asthma was unknown. A 2011 study in 8 Chinese metropolitan cities found the incidence of asthma (adjusted for age and gender) in children aged 6-13 years in the past 12 months was 1.6% in Urumqi, higher than for Xi'an (1.1%) and Hohhot (0.9%) but much lower than for Shanghai (7.0%) and Chengdu (4.6%) [17]. However, it is hard to compare the childhood asthma prevalence between different studies because different definitions of asthma were used and different age children were studied.…”

Clinical features of allergic rhinitis in children of Shanghai, China

“…However, factors contributing to AR development remain unknown. Although several epidemiologic studies have evaluated the prevalence of AR in China (Li et al, 2011;Chen et al, 2014), few studies have examined the different clinical presentations and factors that may influence them. In order to facilitate the diagnosis, management, and prevention of AR, we assessed the clinical presentation of AR in children in Shanghai.…”