Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1994 Mar 12;308(6930):692-5.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.308.6930.692.

Skin test reactivity and number of siblings

E von Mutius  1 , F D Martinez, C Fritzsch, T Nicolai, P Reitmeir, H H Thiemann
Affiliations

Skin test reactivity and number of siblings

E von Mutius et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relation between skin test reactivity in children and number of siblings.

Design: Cross sectional survey among schoolchildren aged 9-11 years. Skin prick tests in the children and self completion of written questionnaire by their parents.

Subjects: 5030 children in Munich and 2623 children in Leipzig and Halle, Germany.

Main outcome measures: Atopic status assessed by skin prick tests.

Results: After possible confounders were controlled for, the prevalence of atopic sensitisation decreased linearly with increasing number of siblings (odds ratio = 0.96 for one sibling, 0.67 for five or more siblings; P = 0.005). In atopic children the severity of the skin test reaction as assessed by the weal size was not associated with the number of siblings.

Conclusions: Factors directly or indirectly related to the number of siblings may decrease the susceptibility of children to become atopic. Thus, declining family size may in part contribute to the increased prevalence of atopic diseases reported in Western countries over the past few decades.

PubMed Disclaimer

Comment in

  • Asthma and having siblings.
    Crane J, Pearce N, Shaw R, Fitzharris P, Mayes C. Crane J, et al. BMJ. 1994 Jul 23;309(6949):272. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6949.272. BMJ. 1994. PMID: 8069159 Free PMC article. No abstract available.

References

    1. J Immunol. 1977 Aug;119(2):614-7 - PubMed
    1. BMJ. 1992 Dec 5;305(6866):1395-9 - PubMed
    1. Am Rev Respir Dis. 1978 Jul;118(1):7-15 - PubMed
    1. Lancet. 1984 Dec 1;2(8414):1255-7 - PubMed
    1. Helv Paediatr Acta. 1984 May;39(2):129-36 - PubMed

Publication types