Open AccessAlergia a Medicamentos Reportada em Crianças que Frequentam Infantários
Author(s) -
Pedro Martins,
Joana Belo,
João Gaspar Marques,
Ana Luísa Papoila,
Iolanda Caires,
José Araújo-Martins,
Catarina Pedro,
J. RosadoPinto,
Daniel Virella,
Paula Pinto,
Nuno Neuparth
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta médica portuguesa
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 21
eISSN - 1646-0758
pISSN - 0870-399X
DOI - 10.20344/amp.4789
Subject(s) - medicine , drug allergy , allergy , pediatrics , drug , population , food allergy , multivariate analysis , family medicine , environmental health , psychiatry , immunology
Introduction: Data about drug allergy prevalence in the general population, particularly in children, are lacking. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of parent-reported drug allergy, in children attending day care centers in Lisbon and Oporto. Material and Methods: In Phase II of the “ENVIRH study – Environment and Health in Children Day Care Centers”, a health questionnaire which included questions about drug allergies was administered to children by stratified, random sampling of day care centers. Results: The final analysis included 1,169 questionnaires, 52.5% from boys. The mean age was 3.5 ± 1.5 years. The prevalence of reported drug allergy was 4.1% (95% CI: 3.0 - 5.2%). The most frequently reported drugs were antibiotics (27 cases) and NSAIDs (in 6 cases). In the multivariate analysis, reported drug allergy was directly associated with age (OR 1.19; 95% CI 1.01 - 1.41) and reported food allergy (OR 3.19; 95% CI 1.41 - 7.19). It was inversely associated with the level of parental education (OR 0.25; 95% CI 0.10 - 0.59). Discussion: Even though the limitations of the study our results are in accordance with those reported by previous authors and suggest that there is a high prevalence of reported drug allergy in the considered age group. Conclusion: A correct assessment of these situations is needed in order to avoid unnecessary drug evictions. Keywords: Child Day Care Centers; Child; Drug Hypersensitivity; Prevalence; Portugal.