You are here

Article Text

Article menu
Download PDFPDF
Aetiology
Review: evidence does not support an association between allergen levels and risk for asthma

https://doi.org/10.1136/ebm.6.1.27

Statistics from Altmetric.com

    Request Permissions

    If you wish to reuse any or all of this article please use the link below which will take you to the Copyright Clearance Center’s RightsLink service. You will be able to get a quick price and instant permission to reuse the content in many different ways.

    (2000) Thorax 55, 424. Pearce N, Douwes J, Beasley R.. Is allergen exposure the major primary cause of asthma?. May;. :. –31.
    OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

    
 
 QUESTION: Is allergen exposure the major primary cause of asthma?

    Data source

    Medline search (from 1980).

    Study selection

    English language studies were selected if they were longitudinal or cross sectional studies of the relation between allergens and asthma. The review focused on primary causation studies that reported the amount of allergen exposure. Studies that used bronchial hyperresponsiveness in the definition of asthma were excluded. Studies of selected populations were used when no information from population based studies was available.

    Data extraction

    Data were extracted on age, allergen levels, asthma prevalence, definition of asthma, and population attributable risk.

    Main results

    Results are reported for longitudinal studies only. No population based studies were found on the relation between allergen exposure during infancy and asthma risk after the age of 6 years. In 1 randomised controlled trial, 160 infants with a family history of atopy were allocated to prophylaxis (avoidance of house dust mite allergen and allergenic food) or no …

    View Full Text

    Footnotes

    • Sources of funding: Health Research Council of New Zealand and Guardian Trust (Trustee of the David and Cassie Anderson Medical Charitable Trust).

    • For correspondence: Professor N Pearce, Centre for Public Health Research, Massey University Wellington Campus, Private Box 756, Wellington, New Zealand. Fax +64 4 3800 600.