Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami Health System, Miami, FL 33136, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Apr 14;18(8):4142. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18084142.
Environmental exposure is critical in sensitization to environmental allergens and pediatric asthma morbidity, especially in tropical climates where children are perennially exposed to bioaerosols, such as pollen and mold spores, and endotoxins. : This cross-sectional study examines the association of allergies, associated allergic comorbidities, and the home environment separately and synergistically in pediatric asthma, including in asthma prevalence, severity of asthma, and undiagnosed asthma, in South Florida. An online survey was administered to the parents of children attending two of the University of Miami pediatric clinics from June to October 2016. Descriptive, factor, and multivariate regression analyses were used to analyze the data. : Of 163 children, 22% (36) children had physician-diagnosed asthma; 10% and 32% had allergic rhinitis diagnosis and rhinitis symptoms, respectively, in the past. The allergy diagnosis age was 2.3 years higher than the asthma diagnosis age ( < 0.01). Children with ≥ 2 allergies were 12.8 times more likely to have physician-diagnosed asthma than those without allergies ( < 0.01). Children with allergies and allergic rhinitis were 4.3 ( < 0.05) times more likely to have asthma, and those with asthma were 15 ( < 0.05) times more likely to have an asthma attack than those without known allergies and allergic rhinitis. : Allergies and associated comorbidities are risk factors of asthma, asthma persistence, and multiple allergies exacerbate their effects. Early screening for allergies and treatment are warranted to manage asthma. Since the home environment plays an important role in sensitization to allergens, further research is needed to assess home-environment-mediated allergic conditions in the onset and persistence of asthma.
环境暴露对环境过敏原致敏和儿科哮喘发病率至关重要，尤其是在热带气候下，儿童常年暴露于生物气溶胶（如花粉和霉菌孢子以及内毒素）中。本横断面研究分别和协同探讨了过敏、相关过敏合并症和家庭环境对南佛罗里达州儿科哮喘（包括哮喘发病率、哮喘严重程度和未确诊哮喘）的影响。2016 年 6 月至 10 月，研究人员对在迈阿密大学两所儿科诊所就诊的儿童的父母进行了在线调查。采用描述性、因子和多元回归分析来分析数据。在 163 名儿童中，22%（36 名）的儿童被医生诊断患有哮喘；10%和 32%的儿童分别在过去患有过敏性鼻炎和鼻炎症状。过敏诊断年龄比哮喘诊断年龄高 2.3 岁（<0.01）。患有≥2 种过敏的儿童被医生诊断患有哮喘的可能性是无过敏的儿童的 12.8 倍（<0.01）。患有过敏和过敏性鼻炎的儿童患哮喘的可能性是没有已知过敏和过敏性鼻炎的儿童的 4.3 倍（<0.05），而患有哮喘的儿童患哮喘发作的可能性是没有已知过敏和过敏性鼻炎的儿童的 15 倍（<0.05）。过敏和相关合并症是哮喘、哮喘持续存在以及多种过敏加重其影响的危险因素。需要进行早期过敏筛查和治疗以管理哮喘。由于家庭环境在过敏原致敏中起着重要作用，因此需要进一步研究评估家庭环境介导的过敏状况在哮喘发病和持续中的作用。
