Differences in the prevalence of allergy and asthma among US children and adolescents during and before the COVID-19 pandemic.

BACKGROUND

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.

METHODS

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.

RESULTS

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.

CONCLUSION

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.