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[Relationship between child day-care attendance and acute infectious disease. A systematic review]

Carlos Ochoa Sangrador1, M Verisima Barajas Sánchez, Beatriz Muñoz Martín

  • 1Servicio de Pediatría, Hospital Virgen de la Concha, Zamora. cochoas@meditex.es

Revista Espanola De Salud Publica
|July 21, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Child day-care attendance increases the risk of common childhood illnesses like respiratory infections and gastroenteritis. This systematic review quantifies these risks, highlighting significant health implications for young children.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatrics
  • Epidemiology
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Child day-care attendance is a known risk factor for early childhood diseases.
  • Previous studies have not fully quantified the associated health risks.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and quantify the health risks associated with child day-care attendance in young children.
  • To analyze the impact on various acute childhood infections.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic review of clinical trials and cohort studies from Cochrane Collaboration, PubMed, Spanish Medical Index, and EMBASE.
  • Methodological quality assessed using personalized criteria.
  • Meta-analysis of pooled measures (relative risks, incidence density ratios) with random effects models.

Main Results:

  • Child day-care attendance significantly increases the risk of upper respiratory tract infections (RR=1.88), acute otitis media (RR=1.58), otitis media with fluid draining (RR=2.43), lower respiratory tract infections (overall RR=2.10), and gastroenteritis (RR=1.40).
  • Day-care attendance may account for 33%-50% of respiratory infection and gastroenteritis episodes in this population.
  • Increased risk was consistent across different social and geographical settings.

Conclusions:

  • Child day-care attendance presents a discreet but high-impact risk to childhood health.
  • Findings have significant implications for clinical practice, public health policy, and future research.
  • Evidence supports increased vigilance and potential interventions for healthcare providers and authorities.

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