The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma: A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe

Signe Timm; Morten Frydenberg; Christer Janson; Brittany Campbell; Bertil Forsberg; Thorarinn Gislason; Mathias Holm; Rain Jogi; Ernst Omenaas; Torben Sigsgaard; Cecilie Svanes; Vivi Schlünssen

doi:10.3390/ijerph13010093

The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma: A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe

Signe Timm, Morten Frydenberg, Christer Janson, Brittany Campbell, Bertil Forsberg, Thorarinn Gislason, Mathias Holm, Rain Jogi, Ernst Omenaas, Torben Sigsgaard, Cecilie Svanes, Vivi Schlünssen

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52 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The early life environment appears to have a persistent impact on asthma risk. We hypothesize that environmental factors related to rural life mediate lower asthma prevalence in rural populations, and aimed to investigate an urban-rural gradient, assessed by place of upbringing, for asthma. The population-based Respiratory Health In Northern Europe (RHINE) study includes subjects from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia born 1945–1973. The present analysis encompasses questionnaire data on 11,123 RHINE subjects. Six categories of place of upbringing were defined: farm with livestock, farm without livestock, village in rural area, small town, city suburb and inner city. The association of place of upbringing with asthma onset was analysed with Cox regression adjusted for relevant confounders. Subjects growing up on livestock farms had less asthma (8%) than subjects growing up in inner cities (11%) (hazard ratio 0.72 95% CI 0.57–0.91), and a significant urban-rural gradient was observed across six urbanisation levels (p = 0.02). An urban-rural gradient was only evident among women, smokers and for late-onset asthma. Analyses on wheeze and place of upbringing revealed similar results. In conclusion, this study suggests a protective effect of livestock farm upbringing on asthma development and an urban-rural gradient in a Northern European population.

Original language	English
Article number	93
Journal	International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume	13
Issue	1
ISSN	1661-7827
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010093
Publication status	Published - 2016

Keywords

RHINE
asthma
early life environment
farming
hygiene hypothesis
microbial exposure
urban-rural gradient

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10.3390/ijerph13010093

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Timm, S., Frydenberg, M., Janson, C., Campbell, B., Forsberg, B., Gislason, T., Holm, M., Jogi, R., Omenaas, E., Sigsgaard, T., Svanes, C., & Schlünssen, V. (2016). The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma: A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 13(1), Article 93. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph13010093

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abstract = "The early life environment appears to have a persistent impact on asthma risk. We hypothesize that environmental factors related to rural life mediate lower asthma prevalence in rural populations, and aimed to investigate an urban-rural gradient, assessed by place of upbringing, for asthma. The population-based Respiratory Health In Northern Europe (RHINE) study includes subjects from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Iceland and Estonia born 1945–1973. The present analysis encompasses questionnaire data on 11,123 RHINE subjects. Six categories of place of upbringing were defined: farm with livestock, farm without livestock, village in rural area, small town, city suburb and inner city. The association of place of upbringing with asthma onset was analysed with Cox regression adjusted for relevant confounders. Subjects growing up on livestock farms had less asthma (8%) than subjects growing up in inner cities (11%) (hazard ratio 0.72 95% CI 0.57–0.91), and a significant urban-rural gradient was observed across six urbanisation levels (p = 0.02). An urban-rural gradient was only evident among women, smokers and for late-onset asthma. Analyses on wheeze and place of upbringing revealed similar results. In conclusion, this study suggests a protective effect of livestock farm upbringing on asthma development and an urban-rural gradient in a Northern European population.",

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The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma: A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe. / Timm, Signe; Frydenberg, Morten; Janson, Christer et al.
In: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 13, No. 1, 93, 2016.

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaper › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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T1 - The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma

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AU - Timm, Signe

AU - Frydenberg, Morten

AU - Janson, Christer

AU - Campbell, Brittany

AU - Forsberg, Bertil

AU - Gislason, Thorarinn

AU - Holm, Mathias

AU - Jogi, Rain

AU - Omenaas, Ernst

AU - Sigsgaard, Torben

AU - Svanes, Cecilie

AU - Schlünssen, Vivi

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JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

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ER -

The Urban-Rural Gradient In Asthma: A Population-Based Study in Northern Europe

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