Atopic march in a primary care consultation

Introduction: the prevalence of atopic diseases in childhood has increased in recent years. The aim of this study is to describe the epidemiology of atopic diseases in a primary care paediatric consultation.

Material and methods: cross-sectional and descriptive study made with children between 0 and 14 years of age in a primary care paediatric unit (624 children). Information about different variables related to atopic diseases was collected. Data were analyzed using the IBM SPSS Statistics version 25 software. The existence of an association between variables was determined using the chi-square test (statistical significance at p <0.05).

Results: 51% of the sample presented some of the allergic diseases. The cumulative prevalence of atopic dermatitis, food allergy, allergic rhinitis and asthma was 27.2%, 3%, 11.7%, and 33%, respectively. 48.8% of children with atopic dermatitis associated asthma. Respecting children with food allergy, 47.4% developed asthma. 57.5% of patients with allergic rinitis also presented asthma. A statistically significant association was found between the diagnosis of any of the atopic diseases and a history of atopy in parents (p <0.05).

Conclusions: atopic diseases are one of the most prevalent pathologies in primary care pediatric consultations. The association of atopic diseases with each other is highly relevant. Family history is significantly associated with the presence of atopic diseases in the studied children´quota.