Prevalence and Risk Factors of Urticaria With a Focus on Chronic Urticaria in Children

• Published in: Allergy, asthma & immunology research Vol. 9; no. 3; pp. 212 - 219
• Main Authors: Lee, Seung Jin, Ha, Eun Kyo, Jee, Hye Mi, Lee, Kyung Suk, Lee, Seung Won, Kim, Mi Ae, Kim, Dong Hyun, Jung, Young-Ho, Sheen, Youn Ho, Sung, Myong Soon, Han, Man Yong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) The Korean Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Clinical Immunology; The Korean Academy of Pediatric Allergy and Respiratory Disease 01.05.2017; 대한천식알레르기학회
• Subjects: Original; 내과학; chronic urticarial; prevalence; risk factor, urticaria; Acute urticarial
• ISSN: 2092-7355; 2092-7363
• DOI: 10.4168/aair.2017.9.3.212

Limited data is available on the prevalence and risk factors of acute and chronic urticaria in children. Our purpose was to determine the prevalence and identify the risk factors of acute and chronic urticaria in Korean children. This population-based study examined 4,076 children (age 4 to 13 years) who were enrolled in the 2015 prospective Seongnam Atopy Project (SAP 2015) in Korea. The parents completed an urticaria questionnaire that included questions regarding the duration, severity, and triggering factors of urticaria. Blood sampling (n=464) was performed to measure vitamin D, total eosinophil count (TEC), and total IgE levels, and skin prick tests (n=503) were done. The prevalences of the life-time, acute, and chronic urticaria were 22.5%, 13.9%, and 1.8% (chronic continuous urticaria, 0.7%; and chronic recurrent urticaria, 1.1%), respectively. Acute urticaria was significantly associated with allergic diseases and parental history of allergy (P<0.001), but chronic urticaria was not associated with these clinical factors. There was no significant difference in the 25-hydroxyvitamin D level between subjects with chronic urticaria and controls (P=0.124). Chronic continuous urticaria was associated with living in a new residence (aOR=2.38, 95% CI=1.02-5.54, P=0.044) and belonging to a family with a high income (aOR=4.24, 95% CI=1.24-14.56, P=0.022). A total of 1.8% of children were found to have chronic urticaria. Living in a new residence and belonging to a family with a high income increased the risk of chronic continuous urticaria.