Early eczema and the risk of childhood asthma: a prospective, population-based study

BMC Pediatrics

Roar Johnsen¹  Turid L Holmen³  Ola Storrø¹  Pål R Romundstad¹  Christian K Dotterud¹  Torbjørn Øien¹  Marit Saunes² 

[1]Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

[2]Department of Public Health and General Practice, Medical Research Centre (MTFS), NO-7489, Trondheim, Norway

[3]HUNT Research Centre, Department of Public Health and General Practice, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

关键词: Questionnaires;    Cohort;    Preschool;    Child;    Asthma;    Eczema;   

Others  :  1170624
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2431-12-168

 received in 2012-01-31, accepted in 2012-10-15,  发布年份 2012

【 摘 要 】

Background

Severe eczema in young children is associated with an increased risk of developing asthma and rhino-conjunctivitis. In the general population, however, most cases of eczema are mild to moderate. In an unselected cohort, we studied the risk of current asthma and the co-existence of allergy-related diseases at 6 years of age among children with and without eczema at 2 years of age.

Methods

Questionnaires assessing various environmental exposures and health variables were administered at 2 years of age. An identical health questionnaire was completed at 6 years of age. The clinical investigation of a random subsample ascertained eczema diagnoses, and missing data were handled by multiple imputation analyses.

Results

The estimate for the association between eczema at 2 years and current asthma at 6 years was OR=1.80 (95% CI 1.10-2.96). Four of ten children with eczema at 6 years had the onset of eczema after the age of 2 years, but the co-existence of different allergy-related diseases at 6 years was higher among those with the onset of eczema before 2 years of age.

Conclusions

Although most cases of eczema in the general population were mild to moderate, early eczema was associated with an increased risk of developing childhood asthma. These findings support the hypothesis of an atopic march in the general population.

Trial registration

The Prevention of Allergy among Children in Trondheim study has been identified as ISRCTN28090297 in the international Current Controlled Trials database

【 授权许可】

   
2012 Saunes et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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