Setting: Epidemiological evidence on the relationship between socio-economic status and allergic disorders has been inconsistent.
Objectives: We examined the associations between maternal employment, maternal job type, household income, and paternal and maternal educational levels and the risk of allergic disorders in Japanese children aged 4.5 years.
Design: Subjects were 480 mother-child pairs. Definitions of wheeze and eczema symptoms were based on criteria of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. Data on self-reported doctor-diagnosed asthma and atopic eczema were available.
Results: Compared with children whose mothers had received less than 13 years of education, those with mothers with ≥15 years of education had a significantly increased risk of wheeze and doctor-diagnosed asthma: the adjusted ORs were respectively 2.41 (95%CI 1.18-5.17) and 2.70 (95%CI 1.03-8.08). Fifteen years or more of paternal education was independently associated with an increased risk of eczema, but not of doctor-diagnosed atopic eczema (adjusted OR 1.89, 95%CI 1.07-3.42). Mother's employment, mother's job type and household income were not related to any of the outcomes.
Conclusions: Higher maternal educational level may increase the risk of wheeze and asthma, while higher paternal educational level may increase the risk of eczema.