title: Parental employment, income, education and allergic disorders in children: a prebirth cohort study in Japan.
abstract: METHODS
  Epidemiological evidence on the relationship between socio-economic status and allergic disorders has been inconsistent.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  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.
  
  
  METHODS
  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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka University, Fukuoka, Japan. miyake-y@fukuoka-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyake
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tanaka
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hirota
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D044466:Asian People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D004522:Educational Status; D004651:Employment / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005220:Fathers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000208:ethnology*; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012135:Respiratory Sounds; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires