BACKGROUND: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis has increased, but the cause of this rise is partly unknown. Our aim was to analyse the prevalence, risk factors, and protective factors for allergic rhinitis in 12-year-old Swedish children. METHODS: Data were collected from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of children born in western Sweden in 2003. The parents answered questionnaires when the children were 6 months to 12 years. The response rate at 12 years was 76% (3637/4777) of the questionnaires distributed. RESULTS: At the age of 12, 22% of children had allergic rhinitis and 57% were boys. Mean age at onset was 7.8 years, and 55% reported their first symptoms after 8 years. The most common trigger factors were pollen (85%), furry animals (34%), and house dust mites (17%). A multivariate analysis showed that the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the independent risk factors for allergic rhinitis at 12 were as follows: parental allergic rhinitis (2.32, 1.94-2.77), doctor-diagnosed food allergy in the first year (1.75, 1.21-2.52), eczema in the first year (1.61, 1.31-1.97), and male gender (1.25, 1.06-1.47). Eating fish once a month or more at age of 12 months reduced the risk of allergic rhinitis at 12 years of age (0.70, 0.50-0.98) as did living on a farm with farm animals at 4 years (0.51, 0.32-0.84). Continuous farm living from age 4 to 12 seemed to drive the association. CONCLUSIONS: Allergic rhinitis affected > 20% of 12-year-olds, but was lower in children who ate fish at 12 months or grew up on a farm with farm animals.
BACKGROUND: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis has increased, but the cause of this rise is partly unknown. Our aim was to analyse the prevalence, risk factors, and protective factors for allergic rhinitis in 12-year-old Swedish children. METHODS: Data were collected from a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of children born in western Sweden in 2003. The parents answered questionnaires when the children were 6 months to 12 years. The response rate at 12 years was 76% (3637/4777) of the questionnaires distributed. RESULTS: At the age of 12, 22% of children had allergic rhinitis and 57% were boys. Mean age at onset was 7.8 years, and 55% reported their first symptoms after 8 years. The most common trigger factors were pollen (85%), furry animals (34%), and house dust mites (17%). A multivariate analysis showed that the adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the independent risk factors for allergic rhinitis at 12 were as follows: parental allergic rhinitis (2.32, 1.94-2.77), doctor-diagnosed food allergy in the first year (1.75, 1.21-2.52), eczema in the first year (1.61, 1.31-1.97), and male gender (1.25, 1.06-1.47). Eating fish once a month or more at age of 12 months reduced the risk of allergic rhinitis at 12 years of age (0.70, 0.50-0.98) as did living on a farm with farm animals at 4 years (0.51, 0.32-0.84). Continuous farm living from age 4 to 12 seemed to drive the association. CONCLUSIONS:Allergic rhinitis affected > 20% of 12-year-olds, but was lower in children who ate fish at 12 months or grew up on a farm with farm animals.
Authors: Matthias V Kopp; Cathleen Muche-Borowski; Michael Abou-Dakn; Birgit Ahrens; Kirsten Beyer; Katharina Blümchen; Petra Bubel; Adam Chaker; Monika Cremer; Regina Ensenauer; Michael Gerstlauer; Uwe Gieler; Inga-Marie Hübner; Fritz Horak; Ludger Klimek; Berthold V Koletzko; Sybille Koletzko; Susanne Lau; Thomas Lob-Corzilius; Katja Nemat; Eva M J Peters; Antonio Pizzulli; Imke Reese; Claudia Rolinck-Werninghaus; Elien Rouw; Bianca Schaub; Sebastian Schmidt; Jens-Oliver Steiß; Anne Kathrin Striegel; Zsolt Szépfalusi; Dietmar Schlembach; Thomas Spindler; Christian Taube; Valérie Trendelenburg; Regina Treudler; Ulrich Umpfenbach; Christian Vogelberg; Martin Wagenmann; Anke Weißenborn; Thomas Werfel; Margitta Worm; Helmut Sitter; Eckard Hamelmann Journal: Allergol Select Date: 2022-03-04