Pre-natal and post-natal exposure to respiratory infection and atopic diseases development: a historical cohort study

Table 1 Lifetime prevalence of allergic conditions, exposure high ARI and characteristics of the population

	n/N	%
Asthma	120/4634	2.6
Eczema	547/4668	11.7
Hay fever	316/4668	6.8
Inhalant allergen sensitization ¹ *	1030/3737	27.6
Outdoor allergen sensitization ² *	738/3737	19.8
Indoor allergen sensitization ³ *	631/3915	16.1
Elevated total IgE ^4*	631/3955	16.0
Exposed to high ARI in period ⁵
Trimester 1	927/4672	19.8
Trimester 2	989/4672	21.2
Trimester 3	617/4672	13.2
Month of birth	223/4672	4.8
Months 0–3	573/4672	12.3
Months 3–6	653/4672	14.0
Months 6–9	817/4672	17.5
Months 9–12	738/4672	15.8
Area Zerbst	1426/4672	30.5
Bitterfeld	1925/4672	41.2
Hettstett	1321/4672	28.3
Male sex	2464/4672	52.7
Age 5–7 years	205/4672	4.4
8–10 years	1027/4672	22.0
10–12 years	3440/4672	73.6
Parental allergy ⁶	1155/4567	25.3
High parental education ⁷	1924/4531	42.5

n/N = number of observations/total number of observations;
¹ specific IgE against cat, mite, grass or birch >= 0.7 kU/l; ²specific IgE against grass or birch >= 0.7 kU/l; ³specific IgE against cat or mite >= 0.7 kU/l; ⁴ total IgE >= 400 kU/l; The different sensitization denominatorsof result from different numbers of missing values.⁵ numbers do not add up to 100% as children could be exposed to high ARI in more than one period; ⁶ at least one parent reported a history of asthma, hay fever or eczema; ⁷ at least one parent completed high school;

ISSN: 1465-993X