Prevalence of asthma and allergies in children from the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot communities in Cyprus: a bi-communal cross-sectional study
Journal
BMC Public Health
Date Issued
June 16, 2013
DOI
10.1186/1471-2458-13-585
Abstract
Background: The Greek-Cypriot (G/C) and Turkish-Cypriot (T/C) communities have lived apart since 1974, with the
former presumably adopting a more westernized way of life. We estimated the prevalence of asthma and allergies
among children in the two communities and investigated differences in socio-demographic and lifestyle risk factors.
Methods: The ISAAC questionnaire was completed by 10156 children aged 7–8 and 13–14 years. Relative
differences in asthma and allergic symptoms between the two communities were expressed as odds ratios (OR),
estimated in multivariable logistic regression models before and after adjusting for participants’ risk characteristics.
Results: In contrast to our original speculation, consistently lower prevalence rates were observed for respiratory
outcomes (but not eczema) among G/C compared to T/C children in both age-groups. For instance, the prevalence
of current wheeze among 7–8 year-olds was 8.7% vs 11.4% (OR = 0.74, 95%, CI: 0.61, 0.90) and of current
rhinoconjuctivitis 2.6% vs 4.9% (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.71). Surprisingly, the proportion reporting family history of
allergy was almost double in the G/C community. With the exception of early life nursery attendance, several
protective factors were more prevalent amongst T/C, such as bedroom sharing, less urbanized environment and
exposure to farm animals. In contrast, exposure to tobacco smoke was more frequent in the T/C community.
Controlling for risk factors did not account for the observed lower prevalence of current wheeze (in the younger
age-group) and rhinoconjuctivitis (in both age-groups) among G/C children while differences in the prevalence of
eczema between the two communities were no longer statistically significant.
Conclusions: A mixed picture of potential risk factors was observed in the two communities of Cyprus, not
consistently favoring one over the other community since, for example, bedroom sharing and rural living but also
exposure to tobacco smoke were more common among T/C children. Investigated risk factors do not fully account
for the lower prevalence of asthma and allergies among G/C children, especially against a background of higher
family history of allergy in this community.
former presumably adopting a more westernized way of life. We estimated the prevalence of asthma and allergies
among children in the two communities and investigated differences in socio-demographic and lifestyle risk factors.
Methods: The ISAAC questionnaire was completed by 10156 children aged 7–8 and 13–14 years. Relative
differences in asthma and allergic symptoms between the two communities were expressed as odds ratios (OR),
estimated in multivariable logistic regression models before and after adjusting for participants’ risk characteristics.
Results: In contrast to our original speculation, consistently lower prevalence rates were observed for respiratory
outcomes (but not eczema) among G/C compared to T/C children in both age-groups. For instance, the prevalence
of current wheeze among 7–8 year-olds was 8.7% vs 11.4% (OR = 0.74, 95%, CI: 0.61, 0.90) and of current
rhinoconjuctivitis 2.6% vs 4.9% (OR = 0.52, 95% CI: 0.37, 0.71). Surprisingly, the proportion reporting family history of
allergy was almost double in the G/C community. With the exception of early life nursery attendance, several
protective factors were more prevalent amongst T/C, such as bedroom sharing, less urbanized environment and
exposure to farm animals. In contrast, exposure to tobacco smoke was more frequent in the T/C community.
Controlling for risk factors did not account for the observed lower prevalence of current wheeze (in the younger
age-group) and rhinoconjuctivitis (in both age-groups) among G/C children while differences in the prevalence of
eczema between the two communities were no longer statistically significant.
Conclusions: A mixed picture of potential risk factors was observed in the two communities of Cyprus, not
consistently favoring one over the other community since, for example, bedroom sharing and rural living but also
exposure to tobacco smoke were more common among T/C children. Investigated risk factors do not fully account
for the lower prevalence of asthma and allergies among G/C children, especially against a background of higher
family history of allergy in this community.
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