Background: The prevalence of allergy-related diseases (ARDs), including rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and eczema, is on the increase in Africa and globally. The causes of this increase are not well established. Objectives: To investigate the risk factors for ARDs among schoolchildren in Uganda. Methods: We conducted a secondary data analysis of a large asthma case-control study involving 1,700 schoolchildren, 5-17 years, in urban Uganda. ARDs were defined according to the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire. Skin prick testing (SPT) was conducted using standard procedures and allergen-specific IgE (asIgE) using ImmunoCAP. We used inverse probability weighting to account for the differences in the sampling fractions in all our analyses. Results: The lifetime prevalence of reported rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis and eczema was 43.3%, 39.5%, and 13.5%, respectively. There was overlap of ARDs, with 66.3% of 1,193 schoolchildren who reported having ever an ARDs (including asthma) reporting two or more. The important risk factors for rhinitis ever were city residence at birth [adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) 1.97 (1.26-3.10) compared to rural]; fathers [2.08 (1.57-2.75)] and mothers history of allergic disease [2.29 (1.81-2.91)]; frequent de-worming in the last 12 months [1.80 (1.32-2.45), >2 versus none]; current high frequency of trucks passing on the street near home [1.90 (1.19-3.03), almost all the time versus rarely] and positive SPT [1.56 (1.24-1.96)] but not asIgE [1.33 (0.81-2.18)]. The same pattern of risk factors was observed for allergic conjunctivitis and eczema. Conclusion: We found extensive multi-morbidity of, and overlap in the risk factors for, rhinitis, conjunctivitis, and eczema - similar to asthma risk factors - among schoolchildren in urban Uganda. This suggests a similar underlying cause for all ARDs, associated with exposure to urban lifestyles and environment in Uganda. Thus, epidemiological research should investigate causes of all ARDs as one disease entity.

中文翻译：

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乌干达学龄儿童鼻炎，过敏性结膜炎和湿疹的危险因素

背景：在非洲和全球范围内，与过敏相关的疾病（ARD）的流行，包括鼻炎，过敏性结膜炎和湿疹正在增加。这种增加的原因尚不明确。目的：调查乌干达学龄儿童急性呼吸道疾病的危险因素。方法：我们对乌干达市区1,700名5-17岁学童的大型哮喘病例对照研究进行了二次数据分析。根据国际儿童哮喘和过敏研究（ISAAC）问卷对ARDs进行了定义。使用标准程序进行皮肤点刺测试（SPT），并使用ImmunoCAP进行过敏原特异性IgE（asIgE）。在所有分析中，我们使用了逆概率加权来说明采样分数的差异。结果：报告的鼻炎终生患病率，过敏性结膜炎和湿疹分别为43.3％，39.5％和13.5％。ARDs重叠，在1,193名曾报告过ARDs（包括哮喘）的学童中，有66.3％报告有两个或更多。鼻炎的重要危险因素曾经是出生时的城市居住[调整后的优势比（95％置信区间）为1.97（1.26-3.10），与农村相比]；父亲[2.08（1.57-2.75）]和母亲过敏史[2.29（1.81-2.91）]；在过去的12个月中经常清除蠕虫病毒[1.80（1.32-2.45），> 2对比没有病毒]；当前在附近街道上行驶的卡车的高频率[1.90（1.19-3.03），几乎所有时间都很少；而SPT为正[1.56（1.24-1.96）]，但不是asIgE [1.33（0.81-2.18）]。过敏性结膜炎和湿疹的危险因素模式相同。结论：我们发现乌干达市区学龄儿童的鼻炎，结膜炎和湿疹的广泛多发病率和危险因素重叠（类似于哮喘的危险因素）。这表明所有急性呼吸道疾病都有类似的潜在原因，与乌干达城市生活方式和环境的暴露有关。因此，流行病学研究应将所有ARDs的病因作为一种疾病进行调查。