Parental employment, income, education and allergic disorders in children: a prebirth cohort study in Japan

• Published in: The international journal of tuberculosis and lung disease Vol. 16; no. 6; pp. 756 - 761
• Main Authors: Miyake, Y., Tanaka, K., Sasaki, S., Hirota, Y.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Paris, France International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease 01-06-2012; International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease
• Subjects: Adult; Allergic diseases; Asian Continental Ancestry Group - statistics & numerical data; Asthma; Asthma - diagnosis; Asthma - ethnology; Biological and medical sciences; Child, Preschool; Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma; Dermatitis, Atopic - diagnosis; Dermatitis, Atopic - ethnology; Eczema; Educational Status; Employment - economics; Employment - statistics & numerical data; Fathers - statistics & numerical data; Female; Humans; Hypersensitivity - diagnosis; Hypersensitivity - ethnology; Immunopathology; Income - statistics & numerical data; Japan - epidemiology; Japanese Children; Logistic Models; Male; Medical sciences; Mothers - statistics & numerical data; Mycobacterium; Odds Ratio; Parental Education; Pneumology; Pregnancy; Prospective Studies; Respiratory Sounds; Risk Assessment; Risk Factors; Skin allergic diseases. Stinging insect allergies; Surveys and Questionnaires; Wheeze; Asia; Japan; Human; Immunopathology; Lung disease; Allergy; Skin disease; Respiratory disease; wheeze; Wheezing; Japanese; Asthma; Education; Cohort study; Japanese children; Eczema; parental education; Bronchus disease; Obstructive pulmonary disease; Child; Pneumology
• ISSN: 1027-3719; 1815-7920
• DOI: 10.5588/ijtld.11.0484

SETTING: Epidemiological evidence on the relationship between socio-economic status and allergic disorders has been inconsistent.OBJECTIVES: We examined the associations between maternal employment, maternal job type, household income, and paternal and maternal educational levels
and the risk of allergic disorders in Japanese children aged 4.5 years.DESIGN: Subjects were 480 mother-child pairs. Definitions of wheeze and eczema symptoms were based on criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Data on self-reported doctor-diagnosed
asthma and atopic eczema were available.RESULTS: Compared with children whose mothers had received less than 13 years of education, those with mothers with ≥15 years of education had a significantly increased risk of wheeze and doctor-diagnosed asthma: the adjusted ORs were respectively
2.41 (95%CI 1.18-5.17) and 2.70 (95%CI 1.03-8.08). Fifteen years or more of paternal education was independently associated with an increased risk of eczema, but not of doctor-diagnosed atopic eczema (adjusted OR 1.89, 95%CI 1.07-3.42). Mother's employment, mother's job type
and household income were not related to any of the outcomes.CONCLUSIONS: Higher maternal educational level may increase the risk of wheeze and asthma, while higher paternal educational level may increase the risk of eczema.