The impact of parental history on children's risk of asthma: a study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey-III

Abstract

PurposeThis study aimed to examine the separate effects of maternal and paternal history on the onset of asthma in children and evaluate the relationship between age of asthma onset in parents and risk of asthma in their children.MethodsWe used data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. We developed new continuous standardized scores for survey data to quantify parental history that incorporated both the occurrence of asthma and the age at onset, and associated these scores with asthma risk in the children. The association analysis was adjusted for sex and obesity status.ResultsChildren with maternal history have elevated asthma risk (hazard ratio of 3.71, 95% CI: 1.19–11.60) than those without, and those whose mothers had earlier age of onset have increased risk of asthma compared to those whose mothers had later age of onset. On the contrary, paternal history had a relatively smaller effect that may be only detectable in larger samples (hazard ratio of 2.17, 95% CI: 0.69–6.79).ConclusionMaternal asthma history was strongly associated with the onset of asthma in the second generation, and children whose mother had an earlier age of onset had an increased risk of 3.71. For an approximately 10-year decrease in mother’s age at onset of asthma, the risk of asthma for the offspring increased by 1.37-fold. Using our new risk scores led to smaller standard errors and thus more precise estimates than using a binary indicator.

Associations of caesarean delivery and the occurrence of neurodevelopmental disorders, asthma or obesity in childhood based on Taiwan birth cohort study

“… 12 Xu et al revealed that maternal history of asthma (HR: 3.71) was strongly associated with offspring asthma. 31 In our study, children born to a parent with a history of asthma was significantly associated with childhood asthma. However, Delbley et al found that CS births are associated with subsequent asthma hospitalisation only in premature and mothers with asthma have increased rates of CS and premature delivery.…”

The impact of early life antibiotic use on atopic and metabolic disorders

“…The majority of studies (28 out of 31) investigated the relationship between antibiotic exposure and asthma development, while only seven studies considered the food or non-food allergies and nine examined the development of eczema. All studies reported risk estimates and adjusted risk estimates, but although the investigated confounding factors differed, all studies included maternal history factors, which is known to be important [ 102 ]. The quality of studies ranged from 7 to 9 on the NOS scale (average 7.9), suggesting overall high methodological quality ( Supplementary Table S1 ).…”

Breast-feeding and delivery mode modify the association between maternal atopy and childhood allergic outcomes

“…A family history of allergy, especially maternal allergy, is associated with an increased likelihood of allergic sensitization and allergic diseases during childhood. 1, 2 Furthermore, infancy and early childhood may be a critical period for environmental exposures to modulate allergic disease risk. While breastfeeding and delivery mode appear to modify risk of childhood allergic outcomes, 3–5 it is unclear if they have the potential to attenuate or intensify the risk associated with vertical transmission of maternal atopy.…”