Impact of socioeconomic and environmental factors on atopic eczema and allergic rhinitis: a cross sectional study

Authors

  • Yasamin Torfi Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Islamic Azad University of Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran, Postal address: 19395-646
  • Niloofar Bitarafan Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Islamic Azad University of Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran, Postal address: 19395-646
  • Mehdi Rajabi Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Islamic Azad University of Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Tehran, Iran, Postal address: 19395-646

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2015-519

Keywords:

allergic rhinitis, atopic eczema, prevalence, socioeconomic status

Abstract

The prevalence of allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema is on the rise in recent decades. Many factors can be related to the development of these diseases. We aimed to investigate the association between socioeconomic status (SES), environmental risk factors and these conditions. In this study, the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire was translated and validated. Then it was used to determine the prevalence, severity and possible related factors for both diseases in 1904 schoolchildren aged 6-7 and 13-14 years from various regions of Tehran. The prevalence of rhinitis and eczema in the past year was 33.2 % and 8.2 %, respectively. The prevalence of rhinoconjunctivitis in the past year was 30 %. The risk factors such as birth order, nursery attendance, pet ownership, past allergic experiences as well as some SES factors were associated with both conditions. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis and atopic eczema was on the rise in comparison to the previous studies and SES as well as environmental factors are thought to be associated with the prevalence of these conditions.

Downloads

Published

2015-09-11

How to Cite

Torfi, Y., Bitarafan, N., & Rajabi, M. (2015). Impact of socioeconomic and environmental factors on atopic eczema and allergic rhinitis: a cross sectional study. EXCLI Journal, 14, 1040–1048. https://doi.org/10.17179/excli2015-519

Issue

Vol. 14 (2015)

Section

Original articles

License

Authors who publish in this journal agree to the following terms:

  • The authors keep the copyright and grant the journal the right of first publication under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license, CC BY 4.0. This licencse permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited.
  • The use of general descriptive names, trade names, trademarks, and so forth in this publication, even if not specifically identified, does not imply that these names are not protected by the relevant laws and regulations.
  • Because the advice and information in this journal are believed to be true and accurate at the time of publication, neither the authors, the editors, nor the publisher accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions presented in the publication. The publisher makes no guarantee, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
  • The authors can enter into additional contracts for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version by citing the initial publication in this journal (e.g. publishing in an institutional repository or in a book).

Most read articles by the same author(s)