Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children

Higher family socioeconomic status (SES) has been suggested as a risk factor for allergic diseases. We investigated the effect of SES on the prevalence of allergic diseases and atopy. The study included 13-14-year-old primary school students in Kemalpaşa, Turkey. The International Study of Asthma a...

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Main Authors: Sevgi Sipahi, Hikmet Tekin Nacaroğlu, Demet Can, İlker Günay, Canan Şule Ünsal-Karkıner, Hacer Kamalı, Ahmet Özdemir, Türkan Günay
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health 2017-12-01
Series:The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
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Online Access:https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/1050
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author Sevgi Sipahi
Hikmet Tekin Nacaroğlu
Demet Can
İlker Günay
Canan Şule Ünsal-Karkıner
Hacer Kamalı
Ahmet Özdemir
Türkan Günay
author_facet Sevgi Sipahi
Hikmet Tekin Nacaroğlu
Demet Can
İlker Günay
Canan Şule Ünsal-Karkıner
Hacer Kamalı
Ahmet Özdemir
Türkan Günay
author_sort Sevgi Sipahi
collection DOAJ
description Higher family socioeconomic status (SES) has been suggested as a risk factor for allergic diseases. We investigated the effect of SES on the prevalence of allergic diseases and atopy. The study included 13-14-year-old primary school students in Kemalpaşa, Turkey. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood phase 1 questionnaire was administered to all students to identify allergic diseases. Those identified as having allergic diseases underwent a skin prick test (SPT). Group I included students with allergic diseases and a positive SPT. Group II comprised students with allergic disease who were SPT negative. The control group was randomly selected from the students with no allergic diseases. Three weighted SES scores were calculated for each student (equally weighted, education-weighted, and social class-weighted). SES was classified as lower, middle, or upper according to the weighted SES scores. Allergic diseases were detected in 657 of the 1,373 children who participated in the study. A higher percentage of children with allergic diseases and atopy were in the lower SES group in all weighted SES analyses compared with controls (Group I: 59%, 83.1%, 67.5%; Group II: 62.9%, 80%, 63.5%; control group: 12.4%, 12.9%, 21.2%). Significantly more children with allergic and atopic diseases (Groups I and II) were in the lower SES group compared with the control group (p < 0.001). In contrast to the hygiene hypothesis, we found the incidence of atopic disease was higher in families with lower SES.
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publisher Hacettepe University Institute of Child Health
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spelling doaj-art-3236a2c83d0c44fcba548f30ad5c4e142025-08-20T03:00:53ZengHacettepe University Institute of Child HealthThe Turkish Journal of Pediatrics0041-43012791-64212017-12-0159610.24953/turkjped.2017.06.008Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school childrenSevgi Sipahi0Hikmet Tekin Nacaroğlu1Demet Can2İlker Günay3Canan Şule Ünsal-Karkıner4Hacer Kamalı5Ahmet Özdemir6Türkan Günay7Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Pediatric Allergy, Dr. Behcet Uz Children's Hospital, Izmir, Turkey.Department of Public Health, Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey. Higher family socioeconomic status (SES) has been suggested as a risk factor for allergic diseases. We investigated the effect of SES on the prevalence of allergic diseases and atopy. The study included 13-14-year-old primary school students in Kemalpaşa, Turkey. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood phase 1 questionnaire was administered to all students to identify allergic diseases. Those identified as having allergic diseases underwent a skin prick test (SPT). Group I included students with allergic diseases and a positive SPT. Group II comprised students with allergic disease who were SPT negative. The control group was randomly selected from the students with no allergic diseases. Three weighted SES scores were calculated for each student (equally weighted, education-weighted, and social class-weighted). SES was classified as lower, middle, or upper according to the weighted SES scores. Allergic diseases were detected in 657 of the 1,373 children who participated in the study. A higher percentage of children with allergic diseases and atopy were in the lower SES group in all weighted SES analyses compared with controls (Group I: 59%, 83.1%, 67.5%; Group II: 62.9%, 80%, 63.5%; control group: 12.4%, 12.9%, 21.2%). Significantly more children with allergic and atopic diseases (Groups I and II) were in the lower SES group compared with the control group (p < 0.001). In contrast to the hygiene hypothesis, we found the incidence of atopic disease was higher in families with lower SES. https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/1050ISAACallergic diseasesasthmaatopysocioeconomic status
spellingShingle Sevgi Sipahi
Hikmet Tekin Nacaroğlu
Demet Can
İlker Günay
Canan Şule Ünsal-Karkıner
Hacer Kamalı
Ahmet Özdemir
Türkan Günay
Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
ISAAC
allergic diseases
asthma
atopy
socioeconomic status
title Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
title_full Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
title_fullStr Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
title_full_unstemmed Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
title_short Effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
title_sort effect of socioeconomic status on allergic diseases and atopy in school children
topic ISAAC
allergic diseases
asthma
atopy
socioeconomic status
url https://turkjpediatr.org/article/view/1050
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AT demetcan effectofsocioeconomicstatusonallergicdiseasesandatopyinschoolchildren
AT ilkergunay effectofsocioeconomicstatusonallergicdiseasesandatopyinschoolchildren
AT canansuleunsalkarkıner effectofsocioeconomicstatusonallergicdiseasesandatopyinschoolchildren
AT hacerkamalı effectofsocioeconomicstatusonallergicdiseasesandatopyinschoolchildren
AT ahmetozdemir effectofsocioeconomicstatusonallergicdiseasesandatopyinschoolchildren
AT turkangunay effectofsocioeconomicstatusonallergicdiseasesandatopyinschoolchildren