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Reduced risk of atopic sensitization among farmers: the Humboldt study
Yue Chen1, Donna Rennie, Yvon Cormier
1Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Ont., Canada. ychen@uottawa.ca
Background:
It needs to be clarified whether farming is associated with a reduced risk of atopy or allergic condition. There is a lack of consistent evidence for prevalences of atopy, respiratory allergy and asthma in adult farmers.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study of adults (n = 2,081) was conducted in the town of Humboldt, Sask. Allergy skin prick tests were conducted to determine atopic sensitization. Respiratory allergy and physician-diagnosed asthma were based on self-reporting. Logistic regression was used to assess the associations of atopy, respiratory allergy and asthma with farming practices, adjusting for other important variables.
Results:
Of 2,081 participants, 27.8% were farmers. Reduced risks of atopic sensitization, respiratory allergy and asthma were observed among farmers compared to non-farmers. After adjustment for sex and age, which are major confounders, the odds ratio for atopic sensitization was 0.79 (95% confidence interval: 0.65, 0.97) for farmers versus non-farmers. Asthma showed a similar trend; however, there was no statistically significant difference in either respiratory allergy or asthma rates observed between farmers and non-farmers.
Conclusions:
The prevalence of atopy was lower in adult farmers than in non-farmers.
