在許多國家中兒童的濕疹和氣喘的盛行率逐年上升，許多研究指出嬰幼兒時期有濕疹的人，會增加兒童時期氣喘和過敏性鼻炎的風險。加上空氣污染對於健康的影響，近年來已是公共衛生一門重要的課題。過去幾年內，已有足夠的流行病學研究證據顯示，空氣汙染與氣喘發生有關係，且會造成健康上的危害。本篇研究欲探討有濕疹的嬰幼兒(0-3歲)經過環境中空氣汙染的暴露，是否會造成日後增加氣喘的風險。本篇研究使用兩個全國性資料庫:1.台灣環保署空氣污染監測資料庫，及2.台灣全民健康保險資料庫，並利用Cox proportional hazard regression model同時校正溫度、濕度以及都市化程度作為統計分析。結果顯示，於單汙染物中，有濕疹的患者經長期暴露於PM2.5(粒徑小於等於2.5微米之微粒)中，而之後發生氣喘之危害風險比為3.82 (95%CI=2.30-6.34)，而沒有濕疹之患者日後發生氣喘之危害風險比為2.17 (95%CI=1.93-2.43)，且有濕疹患者比沒濕疹患者暴露於空氣汙染中之危險性明顯較高(p=0.0082)，進一步進行性別分層，發現男生患者相較於女性患者暴露於PM2.5和CO(一氧化碳)，日後得到氣喘之風險性較大，且經過雙汙染物校正其結果也一致。本研究結論為濕疹患者經長期暴露於空氣汙染中之易感受性較沒有濕疹患者大，且男生也較女生危險性高。
The prevalence of childhood eczema and asthma is increasing each year in many countries. There are many studies suggesting that infants who have eczema associated with increasing the risk of developing asthma during adolescence. In addition, the human health effect of air pollution has been an important public health issue for decades. Over the past few years, there is sufficient evidence of epidemiological studies for air pollution associated with the occurrence of asthma. The objective of this study is to assess whether infants with eczema and following long-term air pollution exposure can cause higher risk of developing asthma during childhood. Two major databases were used in the analyses: 1) Air Quality Monitoring Network Databases collected by Taiwan EPA, and 2) National Health Insurance Research Database (NHIRD).We used Cox proportional hazard regression model and adjusted temperature and relative humidity. The results showed that eczema patients after long-term exposure to PM2.5(particle with aerodynamic diameter 2.5μm or less), the hazard ratio (HR) of asthma was 3.82 (95%CI=2.30-6.34). However, the hazard ratio (HR) of asthma was 2.17 (95%CI=1.93-2.43) in non-eczema patients. Patients with eczema had higher risk of developing asthma than non-eczema cases (p=0.0082). In the gender stratification model, the result showed that male patients exposed to PM2.5 and CO (Carbon monoxide) had higher risk of asthma compared with female. Similar result was also found in the two-pollutant model. We conclude that eczema patients after long-term exposure to air pollution may have higher susceptibility compared with non-eczema cases to asthma. Furthermore, boys may have potential higher risk than girls.
