title: Prevalence and Risk Factors of Urticaria With a Focus on Chronic Urticaria in Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Limited data is available on the prevalence and risk factors of acute and chronic urticaria in children. Our purpose was to determine the prevalence and identify the risk factors of acute and chronic urticaria in Korean children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This population-based study examined 4,076 children (age 4 to 13 years) who were enrolled in the 2015 prospective Seongnam Atopy Project (SAP 2015) in Korea. The parents completed an urticaria questionnaire that included questions regarding the duration, severity, and triggering factors of urticaria. Blood sampling (n=464) was performed to measure vitamin D, total eosinophil count (TEC), and total IgE levels, and skin prick tests (n=503) were done.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalences of the life-time, acute, and chronic urticaria were 22.5%, 13.9%, and 1.8% (chronic continuous urticaria, 0.7%; and chronic recurrent urticaria, 1.1%), respectively. Acute urticaria was significantly associated with allergic diseases and parental history of allergy (P<0.001), but chronic urticaria was not associated with these clinical factors. There was no significant difference in the 25-hydroxyvitamin D level between subjects with chronic urticaria and controls (P=0.124). Chronic continuous urticaria was associated with living in a new residence (aOR=2.38, 95% CI=1.02-5.54, P=0.044) and belonging to a family with a high income (aOR=4.24, 95% CI=1.24-14.56, P=0.022).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A total of 1.8% of children were found to have chronic urticaria. Living in a new residence and belonging to a family with a high income increased the risk of chronic continuous urticaria.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Jin
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Eun Kyo
authors.initials: EK
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Hye Mi
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Jee
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung Suk
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Seung Won
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy & Clinical Immunology, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Mi Ae
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea.
authors.forename: Young Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Gangnam Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Youn Ho
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Sheen
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, CHA Gumi Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Gumi, Korea.
authors.forename: Myong Soon
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Sung
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Bundang CHA Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, Seongnam, Korea. drmesh@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Man Yong
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Han
keywords: Acute urticarial; chronic urticarial; prevalence; risk factor, urticaria