Zusammenhang zwischen allergischer Rhinitis und sozialer Schicht

Abstract

Background

A positive relationship between atopic diseases and socio-economic status was observed in several epidemiological studies in industrialized western countries. Little is known about the association between social class and allergic diseases in German adults. The purpose of this analysis was to determine, whether variations in the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and allergic sensitizations exist between different socio-economic groups in East- and West-Germany.

Methods

A cross sectional study of 7,124 subjects in the age range of 18 to 79 years was carried out from 1997 to 1999 in East- and West-Germany. The study population was representative with respect to age, sex, region and size of residence place. Physician’s diagnosed allergic rhinitis was assessed in a personal interview and allergic sensitizations were measured by specific IgE-antibodies against the most common inhalant aeroallergens. The socio-economic status was based on the level of education, the occupation and the income [5]. Information on social status was obtained for 6,896 subjects.

Results

Allergic rhinitis occurs more frequently in the upper than in the lower socio-economic class. The lifetime prevalence of physician’s diagnosed allergic rhinitis is 11% in the lower, 16% in the median and 19% in the upper social class. The social class effects could be confirmed, even if the combination of interview data and positive specific IgE-test was used for the definition of allergic rhinitis. The crude relative risks for the different social classes were nearly equal in East- and West-Germany. The relative risk for the upper compared to the lower social class was 1.39 (95% CI 1.04–1.86) in East and 1.54 (1.27–1.86) in West Germany. In analyses adjusting for age, smoking habits, size of residence place and the number of siblings (with which the participants had grown up in the same household), the positive association between allergic rhinitis and social class remained significant, except in East-German women.