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PMID: 18202828 Published · ppublish English Comparative Study Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Comparison of allergic diseases, symptoms and respiratory infections between Finnish and Russian school children.

European journal of epidemiology ·Vol. 23 ·No. 2 ·2008-00-00 ·Pages 123-33

Hugg T, Ruotsalainen R, Jaakkola MS, Pushkarev V, Jaakkola JJ

Abstract

Little is known about differences in allergic and respiratory diseases between the Finnish and Russian populations. We conducted a population-based cross-sectional study to compare the occurrence of allergic diseases and respiratory infections among school children in the towns of Imatra in Finland and Svetogorsk in Russia on either side of the common border. The study population consisted of 512 Finnish and 581 Russian school children aged 7-16 years (response rate 79%). We used multiple logistic regression analysis to calculate odds ratios adjusting for age and gender. The prevalences of asthma (6.7 vs. 3.9%, adjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.54, 95% confidence interval (CI 0.87-2.71), allergic rhinitis (15.2 vs. 8.8%, OR 1.81, 1.22-2.68), allergic conjunctivitis (4.7 vs. 3.2%, 1.33, 0.70-2.53), and atopic dermatitis (10.5 vs. 5.9%, 1.78, 1.12-2.83) were substantially higher among school children in Imatra compared to those in Svetogorsk, but the symptoms were more severe among allergic Russian children. Tonsillitis (adjusted OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.07-0.17), sinusitis (0.39, 0.24-0.63), bronchitis (0.41, 0.27-0.62) and pneumonia (0.19, 0.04-0.90) occurred less frequently in the Finnish children, whereas otitis media (2.37, 1.55-3.62) and common cold (4.07, 3.12-5.31) were more frequent in Finland. Allergic diseases are more common in Finnish than Russian school children, but the symptoms are more severe among allergic Russian children. Respiratory infections are in general more frequent in Russian children. "Western" lifestyle habits, differences in diagnostic procedures and environmental factors, and availability of health care and medications are discussed as possible explanations for the observed differences.

MeSH Terms
Adolescent Asthma/epidemiology Child Conjunctivitis, Allergic/epidemiology Cross-Sectional Studies Dermatitis, Atopic/epidemiology Female Finland/epidemiology Health Surveys Humans Hypersensitivity/epidemiology Male Population Prevalence Respiratory Tract Infections/epidemiology Russia/epidemiology
Authors & Affiliations
5 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Hugg Timo
South Karelia Allergy and Environment Institute, Lääkäritie 15, 55330 Tiuruniemi, Finland. [email protected]
Ruotsalainen Risto
Jaakkola Maritta S
Pushkarev Vadim
Jaakkola Jouni J K
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Article Info
Journal
European journal of epidemiology
Abbr.
Eur J Epidemiol
ISSN
0393-2990
DOI
10.1007/s10654-007-9217-z
Email
[email protected]
Published
2008-00-00
Epub
2008-00-17
Pages
123-33
Language
English
Region
Netherlands
NLM ID
8508062
Subset
IM
External Links
PubMed source DOI: 10.1007/s10654-007-9217-z View journal details
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