Association between allergic diseases and mental distress in Danish adolescents
Children with allergic diseases often experience physical, psychological and social impairment, including emotional distress and social isolation. However, only few studies address adolescence and few use self-report instead of parent report. Most studies focus on patients alone, while the public health perspective including socioeconomic disparities is less frequently addressed.
Our aim was to examine the association between allergic symptoms, self-rated health and mental distress in a general child population and to assess if this association was modified by parental socioeconomic position.
METHODS: A cross-sectional health survey of two complete birth-cohorts in the municipality of the Danish capital Copenhagen was conducted. Children aged 11 and 15 years completed questionnaires on mental health and symptoms of atopic eczema, asthma and allergic rhinitis. Data were linked to national registers on parental socioeconomic position. In total, 3784 children responded (46.6%).
RESULTS: Current allergic symptoms were associated with increased risk of poor self-rated health (OR=1.70, 95%CI=1.31-2.19 for symptoms of one vs no diseases; OR=2.53, 95%CI=1.79-3.57 for symptoms of two/three vs no diseases) and emotional problems (OR=1.74, 95%CI=1.43-2.11 for symptoms of one vs no diseases; OR=2.10, 95%CI=1.58-2.79 for symptoms of two/three vs no diseases). The risk was highest among children experiencing symptoms of two or three allergic diseases. Current allergic symptoms were also associated with increased risk of feeling lonely, but not with peer problems or problems with prosocial behaviour. Socioeconomic position did not significantly modify the association between current allergic symptoms and each mental distress indicator. However, low compared to high socioeconomic position added to the total mental distress burden by increasing the risk of peer problems and problems with prosocial behaviour.
CONCLUSIONS: Children experiencing allergic symptoms were at higher risk of rating their health as poor and suffering from emotional problems or loneliness than children without allergic symptoms, regardless of their socioeconomic position.