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- Christensen, Stine Holmegaard, et al.
(författare)
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A clear urban-rural gradient of allergic rhinitis in a population-based study in Northern Europe
- 2016
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Ingår i: European clinical respiratory journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 2001-8525. ; 3
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: The protective effect of farm upbringing on allergic rhinitis is well known, but how upbringing in other environments influences the development of allergic rhinitis is scarcely investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between place of upbringing and pet keeping in childhood and allergic rhinitis and nasal symptoms in adulthood.METHODS: The population-based Respiratory Health in Northern Europe study includes subjects from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, and Estonia born in 1945-1973. This paper analyses 13,376 participants of the third study wave. Six categories of place of upbringing were defined: farm with livestock, farm without livestock, village in rural area, small town, city suburb, and inner city. Pets in the home at birth and during childhood were recorded. Data were analysed using adjusted logistic regression models.RESULTS: Livestock farm upbringing predicted less adult allergic rhinitis [odds ratio (OR) 0.68, 0.54-0.85] and nasal symptoms (OR 0.82, 0.68-0.99) than city upbringing, and an urban-rural gradient with decreasing risk per level of urbanisation was observed (OR 0.92, 0.88-0.94). Pets in the home at birth (OR 0.78, 0.68-0.88) and during childhood (OR 0.83, 0.74-0.93) were associated with less subsequent allergic rhinitis. Pet keeping did not explain the protective effect of place of upbringing.CONCLUSION: Risk of allergic rhinitis and nasal symptoms in adulthood was inversely associated with the level of urbanisation during upbringing. Pets at birth decreased the risk further, but did not explain the urban-rural gradient. Persistent beneficial effects of microbial diversity in early life might be an explanation for the findings.
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| 2. |
- Timm, Signe, et al.
(författare)
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The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma : A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe
- 2016
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Ingår i: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. - Basel, Switzerland : MDPI AG. - 1661-7827 .- 1660-4601. ; 13:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The early life environment appears to have a persistent impact on asthma risk. We hypothesize that environmental factors related to rural life mediate lower asthma prevalence in rural populations, and aimed to investigate an urban-rural gradient, assessed by place of upbringing, for asthma. The population-based Respiratory Health In Northern Europe (RHINE) study includes subjects from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia born 1945-1973. The present analysis encompasses questionnaire data on 11,123 RHINE subjects. Six categories of place of upbringing were defined: farm with livestock, farm without livestock, village in rural area, small town, city suburb and inner city. The association of place of upbringing with asthma onset was analysed with Cox regression adjusted for relevant confounders. Subjects growing up on livestock farms had less asthma (8%) than subjects growing up in inner cities (11%) (hazard ratio 0.72 95% CI 0.57-0.91), and a significant urban-rural gradient was observed across six urbanisation levels (p = 0.02). An urban-rural gradient was only evident among women, smokers and for late-onset asthma. Analyses on wheeze and place of upbringing revealed similar results. In conclusion, this study suggests a protective effect of livestock farm upbringing on asthma development and an urban-rural gradient in a Northern European population.
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