Form of day care and respiratory infections among Finnish children.
The relationship between respiratory infectious diseases and form of day care was assessed in a retrospective cohort study of 2568 randomly selected children aged 1 through 7 years in Espoo, Finland. Day-care center children had an increased risk for the common cold, acute otitis media, and pneumonia. The risk concentrated in 1-year-old children, for whom the adjusted relative risks (incidence density ratios) for the common cold, otitis media, and pneumonia were 1.69 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.43, 2.01), 1.99 (95% CI = 1.57, 2.52), and 9.69 (95% CI = 2.31, 40.55), respectively. Among 1-year-old children, the proportion of infections attributable to care at day-care centers were 41% (95% CI = 30, 50) for colds, 50% (95% CI = 36, 60) for otitis media, and 85% (95% CI = 57, 98) for pneumonia. The results provide evidence that care in day-care centers is a determinant of acute respiratory infections in children under 2, whereas family day care does not essentially increase risk.
Louhiala
P J
PJ
Department of Public Health, University of Helsinki, Finland.
Jaakkola
N
N
Ruotsalainen
R
R
Jaakkola
J J
JJ
D000208:Acute Disease; D002648:Child; D002654:Child Care; D002656:Child Day Care Centers; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003139:Common Cold / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D008297:Male; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011014:Pneumonia / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012306:Risk; D012307:Risk Factors