Predictors of Allergic Airway Disease in Children Under Two Years of Age

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency of factors responsible for allergic airway disease in children <2 years of age.

Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at the Department of Pediatrics, LUMHS, Jamshoro, from October 2022 to April 2023. Children under 2 years of age diagnosed with allergic airway disease were included in the study. Both boys and girls with a disease duration of at least 3 months were enrolled. The assessed factors included family history of asthma, cow’s milk protein allergy, allergic rhinitis, low socioeconomic status, maternal education level, respiratory tract infection, and prematurity. All collected data were entered into Microsoft Excel and subsequently analyzed using SPSS version 23.

Results: The patients’ ages ranged from 5 to 24 months (mean: 12.28 ± 3.40 months). Of the total participants, 84 (69.4%) were male and 37 (30.6%) were female. The contributing factors identified were family history of asthma in 21 (17.4%) patients, cow’s milk protein allergy in 59 (48.8%), allergic rhinitis in 53 (43.8%), low socioeconomic status in 28 (23.1%), primary-level maternal education in 56 (46.3%), matric-level education in 50 (41.3%), above-matric education in 15 (12.4%), respiratory tract infection in 49 (40.5%), and prematurity in 31 (25.6%).

Conclusion: Cow’s milk protein allergy and allergic rhinitis were the most common contributing factors to allergic airway disease in children under 2 years of age, exceeding the contribution of respiratory tract infections and prematurity.