Maternal asthma, its control and severity in pregnancy, and the incidence of atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis in the offspring.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship between maternal asthma, its level of control and severity during pregnancy, and atopic dermatitis (AD) and allergic rhinitis (AR) incidence in children.


METHODS
A cohort of 26 265 singletons born to mothers with and without asthma (1990-2002) was constituted by use of 3 Quebec databases. Mothers with asthma had to have received >or=1 diagnosis and >or=1 prescription for asthma 2 years before or during pregnancy. Asthma control and severity during pregnancy was based on validated indexes. ICD-9 codes 691 and 477 allowed us to identify cases of AD and AR.


RESULTS
Maternal asthma during pregnancy was associated with an increased AD risk (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.11, 95% confidence interval: 1.02-1.21), but not of AR (adjusted hazard ratio: 1.04, 95% confidence interval: 0.91-1.20) in children. Asthma control and severity were not associated with either outcome. Maternal AR and intranasal corticosteroid use during pregnancy increased the risk of childhood AR by 70% and 45%.


CONCLUSIONS
Children of mothers with asthma or AR during pregnancy should be closely monitored to diagnose and treat AD and AR as early as possible.
Martel
Marie-Josée
MJ
Faculty of Pharmacy, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Beauchesne
Marie-France
MF
Malo
Jean-Luc
JL
Rey
Evelyne
E
Perreault
Sylvie
S
Forget
Amélie
A
Blais
Lucie
L
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D011336:Probability; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D011792:Quebec / Q000453:epidemiology; D012042:Registries; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017678:Sex Distribution
D018927:Anti-Asthmatic Agents