Choi Won-Jun, Um In-Yong, Hong Soyoung, Yum Hye Yung, Kim Hyunjung, Kwon Hojang
Department of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, Incheon, Korea.
Environ Health Toxicol. 2012;27:e2012020. doi: 10.5620/eht.2012.27.e2012020. Epub 2012 Nov 30.
This study examined the association between socioeconomic factors and asthma symptoms.
A total of 6,919 elementary school children in Seoul were enrolled in the study. Data were obtained from a web-based questionnaire survey. The questionnaire was based on the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood core module. The prevalence of wheeze in the past 12 months and severe asthma symptoms were obtained. The potential risk factors for asthma symptoms included household income and the number of siblings. A multiple logistic regression analysis was used to calculate the odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) for the risk factors of asthma symptoms.
The prevalence of current wheeze (wheeze in the past 12 months) was 5.2%. Household income and asthma symptoms were inversely associated after adjusting for other potential risk factors (p for trend=0.03). This association was modified by the number of siblings. With two or more siblings, the effect of household income on asthma symptoms was not significant. However, low household income was still a significant variable for patients with fewer than two siblings (OR 1.41; 95% CI, 1.09-1.81).
It appears that childhood asthma disparity is dependent on household income. Therefore, policies to improve childhood health inequities should be emphasized.
本研究探讨社会经济因素与哮喘症状之间的关联。
共有6919名首尔的小学生参与了本研究。数据通过基于网络的问卷调查获得。问卷基于儿童哮喘和过敏国际研究核心模块。获取了过去12个月内喘息的患病率和严重哮喘症状。哮喘症状的潜在风险因素包括家庭收入和兄弟姐妹数量。采用多元逻辑回归分析计算哮喘症状风险因素的比值比（OR）和95%置信区间（CI）。
当前喘息（过去12个月内喘息）的患病率为5.2%。在调整其他潜在风险因素后，家庭收入与哮喘症状呈负相关（趋势p值 = 0.03）。这种关联因兄弟姐妹数量而有所改变。有两个或更多兄弟姐妹时，家庭收入对哮喘症状的影响不显著。然而，对于兄弟姐妹少于两个的患者，低家庭收入仍是一个显著变量（OR 1.41；95% CI，1.09 - 1.81）。
儿童哮喘差异似乎取决于家庭收入。因此，应强调改善儿童健康不平等的政策。
