Steinke Mathias, Fiocchi Alessandro, Kirchlechner Veronika, Ballmer-Weber Barbara, Brockow Knut, Hischenhuber Claudia, Dutta Manjula, Ring Johannes, Urbanek Radvan, Terracciano Luigi, Wezel Rainer
Institut fur Angewandte Verbraucherforschung e.V., Cologne, Germany.
Int Arch Allergy Immunol. 2007;143(4):290-5. doi: 10.1159/000100575. Epub 2007 Mar 14.
Food allergy is targeted as a public health priority by the European Union Commission. Parental perception of food allergy in their offspring is a proxy measure of the potential demand for allergy medicine services in the paediatric population.
A representative sample of the general population was contacted by a randomised telephone survey in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland. A standardised questionnaire was administered regarding parentally perceived food allergy reports, symptoms, foods and medical service use by their live-in children.
40,246 adults were polled, yielding data on 8,825 children. Parentally perceived food allergy prevalence was 4.7% (90% CI 4.2-5.2%). The most affected age group was 2- to 3-year olds (7.2%). Single-country incidence ranged between 1.7% (Austria) to 11.7% (Finland). Milk (38.5%), fruits (29.5%), eggs (19.0%) and vegetables (13.5%) were most often implicated, although with significant age-linked variations. Medical treatment was needed by 75.7% of affected children because of a food reaction. This translates into a proxy measure for food allergy prevalence of 3.75%. Skin symptoms were widespread (71.5%), followed by gastrointestinal (27.6%) and respiratory (18.5%) symptoms.
We provide the first point prevalence of parentally perceived food allergy in the general paediatric population across the European Union. Parental reports confirm the public health significance of adverse reactions to some foods in specified age groups. Our data may inform intervention planning, cost of illness assessments and quality-of-life-enhancing public health measures.
食物过敏被欧盟委员会列为公共卫生重点关注对象。父母对其子女食物过敏的认知是衡量儿科人群对过敏药物服务潜在需求的一项替代指标。
通过随机电话调查联系了奥地利、比利时、丹麦、芬兰、德国、希腊、意大利、波兰、斯洛文尼亚和瑞士的一般人群代表性样本。针对父母所认知的其同住子女的食物过敏报告、症状、食物及医疗服务使用情况，采用了标准化问卷进行调查。
对40246名成年人进行了民意调查，得到了8825名儿童的数据。父母所认知的食物过敏患病率为4.7%（90%置信区间4.2 - 5.2%）。受影响最严重的年龄组是2至3岁儿童（7.2%）。各国发病率在1.7%（奥地利）至11.7%（芬兰）之间。牛奶（38.5%）、水果（29.5%）、鸡蛋（19.0%）和蔬菜（13.5%）是最常涉及的食物，不过存在显著的年龄相关差异。75.7%的受影响儿童因食物反应需要接受治疗。这相当于食物过敏患病率的替代指标为3.75%。皮肤症状很普遍（71.5%），其次是胃肠道症状（27.6%）和呼吸道症状（18.5%）。
我们提供了欧盟普通儿科人群中父母所认知的食物过敏的首个现患率。父母的报告证实了特定年龄组中某些食物不良反应的公共卫生意义。我们的数据可为干预规划、疾病成本评估及提高生活质量的公共卫生措施提供参考。
