Childhood eczema and asthma incidence and persistence: A cohort study from childhood to middle age

Abstract

Background: The association between eczema and asthma is well documented, but the temporal sequence of this association has not been closely examined. Objectives: To examine the association between childhood eczema and asthma incidence from preadolescence to middle age, and between childhood eczema and asthma persisting to middle age. A further aim was to examine any effect modification by nonallergic childhood exposures on the association between childhood eczema and both childhood asthma and later life incident asthma. Methods: Data were gathered from the 1968, 1974, and 2004 surveys of the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study. Multivariable logistic regression examined the association betw..