title: Neonatal jaundice and risks of childhood allergic diseases: a population-based cohort study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Only a few studies have systemically analyzed the association between neonatal jaundice and childhood-onset allergic diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  From 2000 to 2007, 27,693 neonates with newly diagnosed neonatal jaundice and 55,367 matched nonneonatal jaundice cohorts were identified. The incidences and hazard ratios (HRs) of five allergic diseases, namely allergic conjunctivitis (AC), allergic rhinitis (AR), atopic dermatitis (AD), asthma, and urticaria, by the end of 2008 were calculated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence density and HRs of the five allergic diseases were greater in the neonatal jaundice cohort than in the nonneonatal jaundice cohort, and the HRs declined modestly with age. The HRs for AR (HR = 2.51, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.43-2.59) and AD (HR = 2.51, 95% CI = 2.40-2.62) were the highest, and that for urticaria was the lowest (HR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.94-2.19). The HRs of allergic diseases were substantially greater for boys and those requiring phototherapy. The HRs of the allergic diseases, except urticaria (HR = 2.49, 95% CI = 1.57-3.97), were not significantly different between the neonatal jaundice regardless of whether the patients received exchange transfusion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Neonatal jaundice is associated with the development of allergic diseases in early childhood.
authors.affiliation: 1] Children's Hospital, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan [2] College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chang-Ching
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: 1] College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan [2] Management Office for Health Data, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Cheng-Li
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: 1] College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan [2] Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Te-Chun
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: 1] Graduate Institute of Clinical Medicine Science and School of Medicine, College of Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan [2] Department of Nuclear Medicine and PET Center, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chia-Hung
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Kao
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000150:complications*; D015994:Incidence; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007567:Jaundice, Neonatal / Q000150:complications*; D008297:Male