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Duration of day-care attendance and acute respiratory infection
1Departamento de Medicina Social, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, 90035-003, Brazil.
Insights
Longer day-care hours increase the risk of acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children. This study found a 3-5 times higher ARI risk for children in day care for 12-50 hours weekly.
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Infectious Diseases
- Public Health
Background:
- Day-care attendance is linked to increased acute respiratory infections (ARI) in children.
- Factors like age, siblings, and crowding also influence ARI risk.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between the duration of day-care exposure and the incidence of ARI.
- To compare ARI rates in children attending day care versus those cared for at home.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study comparing ARI rates in children attending a hospital-run day-care center versus those cared for at home.
- ARI defined as two or more signs/symptoms in the preceding two weeks.
- Risk factors like socioeconomic status, age, and siblings were controlled for.
Main Results:
- Children exposed to day care for 12 to 50 hours per week had a 3 to 5 times greater risk of developing ARI.
- This increased risk was independent of socioeconomic status, age, and number of siblings.
Conclusions:
- Duration of day-care exposure is a significant risk factor for ARI.
- Improvements in institutional day-care centers are recommended to reduce ARI risk, especially where family day care is limited.
Abstract:
Day-care attendance accounts for an increased frequency of acute respiratory infections (ARI), in numbers of both episodes and hospitalizations. In addition to day-care exposure, risk factors include age, siblings, and crowding. The purpose of this study was to investigate a possible association between duration of day-care exposure and ARI. A cross-sectional study was carried out to compared ARI rates for children exposed to day care and children cared for at home. Children with at least one parent working in a hospital were sampled from the hospital-run day-care center and those cared for at home. An acute respiratory infection was defined as the presence of two or more signs or symptoms in the previous two weeks. Children exposed to the day-care center for 12 to 50 hours a week had a three to five times greater risk of developing ARI than those staying at home. This risk was assessed independently, taking socioeconomic status, age, and number of siblings into account. Risk of respiratory illness and day-care attendance has been described elsewhere, but this study presents original findings related to duration of exposure. With a view towards reducing risk of ARI, improvements should be made in institutional day-care centers in Brazil, where family day care is still not available.