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A Cross-sectional Epidemiological Study on Trends in the Prevalence of Allergic Diseases among Children and Adolescents in the Jeju Area in 2008 and 2013

Article information

Res Community Public Health Nurs. 2015;26(2):160-168
Publication date (electronic) : 2015 June 30
doi : https://doi.org/10.12799/jkachn.2015.26.2.160
Hye-Sook Lee1, Sung-Chul Hong2, Jeong Hong Kim3, Jae-Wang Kim4, Keun-Hwa Lee5, Jaechun Lee6
1School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, Jeju, Korea.
2School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, Preventive Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
3School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, Otorhinolaryngology, Jeju, Korea.
4School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, Dermatology, Jeju, Korea.
5School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, Microbiology, Jeju, Korea.
6School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, Internal Medicine, Jeju, Korea.
Corresponding author: Lee, Hye-Sook. School of Medicine, Jeju National University, The Environmental Health Center, 102 Jejudaehak-ro, Jeju 690-756, Korea. Tel: +82-64-754-3808, Fax: +82-64-726-3803, hslee0289@jejunu.ac.kr
Received 2014 September 11; Revised 2015 June 18; Accepted 2015 June 26.

Abstract

Purpose

This study was to find epidemiological trends in the prevalence of allergic diseases among children and adolescents in Jeju Province, Korea.

Methods

Two questionnaire surveys of the same method were conducted, respectively, in 2008 and in 2013 with five years' interval with 1,296 participants in 2008 and 878 in 2013 who were elementary and secondary students sampled at random from the same five schools. 'International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)' was applied to the parents with their written consent to the survey.

Results

The results of analysis showed an increasing trend in the prevalence of lifetime asthma (8.6% in 2008 and 10.4% in 2013) and in the prevalence of lifetime allergic rhinitis (25.3% in 2008 and 31.1% in 2013) (p=.003), and a decreasing trend in the prevalence of lifetime atopic dermatitis (32.0% in 2008 and 26.8% in 2013) (p=.011).

Conclusion

This research showed an increasing trend in the prevalence of asthma and allergic rhinitis among children and adolescents in Jeju Province compared to that 5 years ago, but represented a declining trend in the prevalence of atopic dermatitis.

Keywords: Prevalence; Asthma; Allergic rhinitis; Atopic dermatitis; Students

Notes

This research was supported by the Environmental Health Center, the Ministry of Environment.

References

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Article information Continued

© 2015 Korean Academy of Community Health Nursing

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Funded by : Environmental Health Center

Table 1

Participants' General Characteristics in 2008 and 2013

Characteristics 2008 2013 p
n (%) or M±SD n (%) or M±SD
Participants (age range)
 Elementary school children (7~12) 534 (41.2) 332 (37.8) .255
 Middle school children (13~15) 371 (28.6) 273 (31.1)
 High school children (16~18) 391 (30.2) 273 (31.1)
13.2±3.25 (7~18)† 13.2±3.27 (7~18)† .793
Gender
 Male 645 (49.8) 417 (47.5) .298
 Female 651 (50.2) 461 (52.5)
Total 1,296 (100.0) 878 (100.0)

†Age, Mean±Standard Deviation (Age Range).

Table 2

Comparison of Prevalence of Asthma Symptoms, Lifetime Diagnosis, Treatments in Jeju Children and Adolescents between 2008 and 2013

Items Elementary (7~12 yr) Middle (13~15 yr) High (16~18 yr) Total (7~18 yr)
2008 2013 2008 2013 2008 2013 2008 2013
Wheeze symptoms, ever 14.6 12.6 12.6 15.9 10.4 17.2 12.8 15.0
Lifetime diagnosis of asthma 10.2 9.7 7.8 13.6* 6.8 8.2 8.6 10.4
Tx of asthma, last 12 months 2.3 2.8 2.4 1.9 1.4 2.3 2.1 2.3

Note. Values are presented as %; Tx=treatment; *p<.05.

Table 3

Comparison of Prevalence of Allergic Rhinitis Symptoms, Lifetime Diagnosis, Treatments in Jeju Children and Adolescents between 2008 and 2013

Items Elementary (7~12 yr) Middle (13~15 yr) High (16~18 yr) Total (7~18 yr)
2008 2013 2008 2013 2008 2013 2008 2013
AR symptoms, ever 37.9 40.3 44.8 43.6 45.9 46.8 42.2 43.4
Lifetime diagnosis of AR 22.4 28.9* 22.5 27.8 31.9 37.0 25.3 31.1**
Tx of AR, last 12 months 16.5 21.1 16.4 19.7 24.1 23.9 18.7 21.5

Note. Values are presented as %; AR=allergic rhinitis; Tx=treatment; *p<.05, **p<.01.

Table 4

Comparison of Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis Symptoms, Lifetime Diagnosis, Treatments in Jeju Children and Adolescents between 2008 and 2013

Items Elementary (7~12 yr) Middle (13~15 yr) High (16~18 yr) Total (7~18 yr)
2008 2013 2008 2013 2008 2013 2008 2013
Itchy eczema symptoms, ever 26.3 22.9 22.9 20.7 21.3 28.5* 23.9 24.0
Lifetime diagnosis of AD 42.8 29.4** 24.5 20.7 23.4 29.9 32.0 26.8*
Tx of AD, last 12 months 16.8 16.0 10.7 8.7 8.3 11.2 12.6 12.3

Note. Values are presented as %; AD=atopic dermatitis; Tx=treatment; *p<.05, **p<.001.