SURVEY OF FAMILY HISTORY ON ALLERGY IN 1-YEAR-OLD AND 6-YEAR-OLD CHILDREN

A retrospective survey of a family history of allergy employing a spec ial questionnaire for children was performed. The survey included 1-ye ar-old (n = 267) and 6-year-old children (n = 410) with allergies as w ell as 1-year-old (n = 313) and 6-year-old children (n = 329) without allergies. An 'Allergy Risk Score' (ARS) for each subject was calculat ed according to the history of allergy in three family members: father , mother and a sibling. Each family member was scored as 2.0 (overt hi story of allergies), 1.0 (provable), 0.5 (possible) or 0 (absent), and the ARS of the subjects was calculated as the total of the family mem bers' scores. The ARS of children in the allergy groups was statistica lly higher than that of the control groups in both age groups. The ARS increased with an increase in the odds ratio (an approximate value of the risk), especially in 6-year-old children. An ARS calculated on th e basis of family history could be a useful and practical index for es timating the risk of allergy development in children, and may be helpf ul in predicting and preventing allergies in infants and children.