Similar prevalence of respiratory symptoms and atopy in Estonian schoolchildren with changing lifestyle over 4 yrs

The prevalence of allergic sensitization and clinical manifestations Is low in Eastern Europe, despite a continuous increase in industrialized countri es with a market economy. The aim of the present study was to study changes in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and atopic sensitization over ti me among schoolchildren in Estonia, in relation to environmental changes as the country transformed into a market economy. A cross-sectional study of 10-yr-old children was carried out between Octob er 1996 and April 1997, employing a questionnaire regarding the prevalence of wheezing, rhinitis and itching rash (n=979) and skin-prick tests with se ven inhalant allergens (n=640), The results were compared with those of a s imilar study performed in 1992-1993, The 12-month prevalence of wheeze was 8.3%, as compared to 9.4% in 1992-199 3, (NS) and of asthma was 2.5 versus 3.2% (Ns), The prevalence of a positiv e skin-prick children test result was 14.3% in both studies. Furthermore, t he prevalence of sensitivity to the eczema individual allergens was similar , except for a significantly higher prevalence of dog sensitivity in 1996-1 997 (4.7 versus 2.0%), The prevalence of respiratory and other potentially allergic symptoms, as w ell as the prevalence of atopic sensitization, remains low in Estonian 10-y r-old children, despite a changing lifestyle over the past 4 yrs, This coul d indicate that the time period was too short for environmental changes to affect the prevalence of allergy, or alternatively that risk factors associ ated with a "western lifestyle" are of particular significance earlier in l ife.