title: Lower Prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis and Allergic Sensitization among Children and Adolescents with a Two-Sided Migrant Background.
abstract: In industrialized countries atopic diseases have been reported to be less likely in children and adolescents with a migrant background compared to non-migrants. This paper aimed at both examining and comparing prevalence of asthma, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis and atopic dermatitis and allergic sensitization to specific IgE antibodies in children and adolescents with and without a migrant background. Using data of the population-based German Health Interview and Examination Survey for children and adolescents (KiGGS;n = 17,450; 0-17 years), lifetime and 12-month prevalence of atopic diseases and point prevalence of 20 common allergic sensitizations were investigated among migrants compared to non-migrants. Multiple regression models were used to estimate the association of atopic disease and allergic sensitization with migrant background. In multivariate analyses with substantial adjustment we found atopic dermatitis about one-third less often (OR 0.73, 0.57-0.93) in participants with a two-sided migrant background. Statistically significant associations between allergic sensitizations and a two-sided migrant background remained for birch (OR 0.73, 0.58-0.90), soybean (OR 0.72, 0.54-0.96), peanut (OR 0.69, 0.53-0.90), rice (OR 0.64, 0.48-0.87), potato (OR 0.64, 0.48-0.85), and horse dander (OR 0.58, 0.40-0.85). Environmental factors and living conditions might be responsible for the observed differences.
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute for Prevention Research and Epidemiology-BIPS, Achterstraße 30, 28359 Bremen, Germany. ernst@bips.uni-bremen.de.
authors.forename: Sinja Alexandra
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ernst
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch Institute, General-Pape-Str. 62-66, 12101 Berlin, Germany. SchmitzR@rki.de.
authors.forename: Roma
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schmitz
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch Institute, General-Pape-Str. 62-66, 12101 Berlin, Germany. ThammM@rki.de.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Thamm
authors.affiliation: Robert Koch Institute, General-Pape-Str. 62-66, 12101 Berlin, Germany. EllertU@rki.de.
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Ellert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D006969:Hypersensitivity, Immediate / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
keywords: adolescents; allergies; atopic hypersensitivity; children; prevalence; transients and migrants