Department of Child and Adolescent Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Province, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
Department of Nutrition and Food Health, School of Public Health, Guangdong Province, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, 510006, China.
BMC Public Health. 2024 Aug 6;24(1):2124. doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-19639-8.
The increasing prevalence of allergies and asthma has led to a growing global socioeconomic burden. Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health and lifestyles of children and adolescents have changed dramatically. It's unclear how this shift impacted allergy and asthma, with limited studies addressing this question. We aim to explore the difference of the prevalence of allergies and asthma among US children and adolescents during and before the COVID-19 pandemic using a nationally representative sample of US children and adolescents.
This cross-sectional study included 31,503 participants in the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) between 2018 and 2021. Allergies and asthma were defined on an affirmative response in the questionnaire by a parent or guardian. Chi-square tests were used to compare baseline characteristics with allergies and asthma for categorical variables. Differences in prevalence during and before the COVID-19 pandemic were estimated with weighted logistic regression, adjusting for demographic factors. Interaction analyses explored variations across strata.
In US children and adolescents aged 0 to 17, prevalence of any allergy was 26.1% (95% CI, 24.8%- 27.4%) in 2018 and 27.1% (95% CI, 25.9%- 28.2%) in 2021. Thereinto, in 2018, prevalence of respiratory allergies, food allergies and skin allergies were 14.0% (95% CI, 13.1%- 15.0%), 6.5% (95% CI, 5.8%- 7.1%) and 12.6% (95% CI, 11.6%- 13.5%), respectively, and in 2021, 18.8% (95% CI, 17.8%- 19.9%), 5.8% (95% CI, 5.2%- 6.4%) and 10.7% (95% CI, 9.9%- 11.5%), respectively. And prevalence of asthma was 11.1% (95% CI, 10.5%- 11.7%) in 2018-2019 and 9.8% (95% CI, 9.2%- 10.4%) in 2020-2021. Prevalence of respiratory allergies, skin allergies and asthma during and before the COVID-19 pandemic in children and adolescents had statistically significant differences. The differences persisted after adjusting for demographic and socioeconomic variables.
Prevalence of respiratory allergies increased and the prevalence of both skin allergies and asthma decreased among US children and adolescents during the COVID-19 pandemic compared with the pre-COVID-19 pandemic. Further research is required to explore the association between allergic diseases and the pandemic, with a particular emphasis on the impact of lifestyle changes resulting from measures to prevent COVID-19 infection.
过敏和哮喘的患病率不断上升，导致了日益严重的全球社会经济负担。自 COVID-19 大流行爆发以来，儿童和青少年的健康和生活方式发生了巨大变化。目前尚不清楚这种转变如何影响过敏和哮喘，有限的研究对此进行了探讨。我们旨在使用美国儿童和青少年的全国代表性样本，探讨 COVID-19 大流行期间和之前美国儿童和青少年过敏和哮喘患病率的差异。
本横断面研究纳入了 2018 年至 2021 年期间国家健康访谈调查（NHIS）中的 31503 名参与者。过敏和哮喘通过父母或监护人在问卷中给出肯定回答来定义。卡方检验用于比较有和无过敏和哮喘的基线特征的分类变量。使用加权逻辑回归估计 COVID-19 大流行期间和之前的患病率差异，调整人口统计学因素。交互分析探索了不同分层的差异。
在美国 0 至 17 岁的儿童和青少年中，2018 年任何过敏的患病率为 26.1%（95%CI，24.8%-27.4%），2021 年为 27.1%（95%CI，25.9%-28.2%）。其中，2018 年呼吸道过敏、食物过敏和皮肤过敏的患病率分别为 14.0%（95%CI，13.1%-15.0%）、6.5%（95%CI，5.8%-7.1%）和 12.6%（95%CI，11.6%-13.5%），2021 年分别为 18.8%（95%CI，17.8%-19.9%）、5.8%（95%CI，5.2%-6.4%）和 10.7%（95%CI，9.9%-11.5%）。哮喘的患病率在 2018-2019 年为 11.1%（95%CI，10.5%-11.7%），在 2020-2021 年为 9.8%（95%CI，9.2%-10.4%）。COVID-19 大流行期间和之前儿童和青少年的呼吸道过敏、皮肤过敏和哮喘患病率存在统计学差异。在调整人口统计学和社会经济变量后，这些差异仍然存在。
与 COVID-19 大流行前相比，美国儿童和青少年在 COVID-19 大流行期间呼吸道过敏的患病率增加，皮肤过敏和哮喘的患病率降低。需要进一步研究以探讨过敏性疾病与大流行之间的关联，特别强调预防 COVID-19 感染措施导致的生活方式变化的影响。
