Casna Maia, Schrader Sarah A
Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Am J Biol Anthropol. 2025 Apr;186(4):e70050. doi: 10.1002/ajpa.70050.
This research examines the prevalence of chronic maxillary sinusitis in pre-adults from multiple Dutch sites, while also considering the effects of associated risk factors such as time period (i.e., urbanization), living conditions, and socioeconomic status. Our aim was to investigate how different risk factors impacted childhood upper respiratory health throughout the Dutch medieval and Post-medieval periods.
We selected 13 sites representative of different time periods (475-1866 CE), living environments (i.e., rural and urban), and socioeconomic status to provide an in-depth overview of past Dutch societies. We macroscopically and endoscopically analyzed the maxillary sinuses of 227 pre-adult individuals to identify paleopathological signs of sinusitis. Adult data on chronic maxillary sinusitis from 11 of these populations were available for comparison.
Statistical analysis revealed that time period had the most noteworthy impact on sinusitis prevalence. Post-medieval pre-adults were nearly three times more likely to develop sinusitis than their early-medieval counterparts, while post-medieval adolescents faced an eightfold increase in risk compared to adolescents from earlier periods. Neither living environment nor socioeconomic status showed a statistically significant effect on sinusitis prevalence.
Our findings highlight the interplay of risk factors affecting respiratory health in pre-adults, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of the historical burden of respiratory diseases in past populations. Factors such as increased population densities, limited access to resources (e.g., healthcare, nutritious food, and drinking water), and the institutionalization of child labor in the Dutch post-medieval period likely had negative impacts on the respiratory health of pre-adults.
本研究调查了来自荷兰多个地点的未成年人慢性上颌窦炎的患病率，同时考虑了相关风险因素的影响，如时间段（即城市化）、生活条件和社会经济地位。我们的目的是研究不同风险因素在荷兰中世纪和中世纪后时期如何影响儿童的上呼吸道健康。
我们选择了13个代表不同时间段（公元475 - 1866年）、生活环境（即农村和城市）以及社会经济地位的地点，以深入了解过去荷兰社会的情况。我们对227名未成年人的上颌窦进行了宏观和内窥镜分析，以确定鼻窦炎的古病理学迹象。其中11个群体的成年人慢性上颌窦炎数据可用于比较。
统计分析表明，时间段对鼻窦炎患病率的影响最为显著。中世纪后的未成年人患鼻窦炎的可能性几乎是中世纪早期同龄人的三倍，而中世纪后的青少年与早期青少年相比，患病风险增加了八倍。生活环境和社会经济地位对鼻窦炎患病率均未显示出统计学上的显著影响。
我们的研究结果突出了影响未成年人呼吸道健康的风险因素之间的相互作用，有助于更全面地了解过去人群中呼吸系统疾病的历史负担。荷兰中世纪后时期人口密度增加、资源获取有限（如医疗保健、营养食品和饮用水）以及童工制度化等因素可能对未成年人的呼吸道健康产生了负面影响。
