Prevalence and characteristics of allergic disease among pediatric patients of urban, rural, and remote primary care clinics: A multisite study in the Philippines.

IF 2.8 Q3 ALLERGY

Asia Pacific Allergy Pub Date : 2026-04-01 Epub Date: 2025-10-06 DOI:10.5415/apallergy.0000000000000225

Carol Stephanie C Tan-Lim, Robbi Miguel G Falcon, Jeremiah F Feliciano, Michael B Fong, Leonila F Dans, Mia P Rey, Antonio Miguel L Dans

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Abstract

Background: There is a dearth of epidemiologic studies on allergic diseases in children in the Philippines.

Objective: This study aimed to describe the prevalence, characteristics, and management of allergic disease consultations among pediatric patients who visited urban, rural, and remote primary care health facilities.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study involving all pediatric patients less than 19 years old who sought consultation in the primary care facilities in the urban, rural, and remote sites from May 1, 2019, to April 30, 2022. Data from each pediatric consult were encoded in real time into the electronic health record (EHR) by healthcare workers in the primary care sites. The Philippine Primary Care Studies data management team extracted from the EHR the month and year of consultation, frequency of consults, demographic factors including age, sex, and location, and clinical factors including chief complaint, diagnosis, management, and family history of allergic disease of the study participants.

Results: There were 20,380 pediatric patients who consulted in the 3 primary care sites over the 3-year study period from May 1, 2019, to April 30, 2022, of which 546 (2.7%) had an allergic condition. The most common allergic condition across the sites was asthma at 74.9%, followed by atopic dermatitis (13.2%) and allergic contact dermatitis (8.1%). The average number of consults per patient was 1.2 (standard deviation: 0.7). Significant variation in the pharmacologic management of the various allergic conditions was observed across the sites.

Conclusion: The prevalence of allergic conditions among pediatric patients consulting in the 3 primary care sites was 2.7%, although this is likely an underestimate due to missed diagnosis especially for mild or asymptomatic disease, and lack of confirmatory testing in the primary care setting. Underutilization of first-line medications and overutilization of nonessential drugs were more apparent in the rural and remote sites.

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城市、农村和偏远初级保健诊所儿科患者过敏性疾病的患病率和特征：菲律宾的一项多地点研究

背景：菲律宾儿童过敏性疾病的流行病学研究缺乏。目的：本研究旨在描述在城市、农村和偏远初级保健卫生机构就诊的儿科患者中过敏性疾病的患病率、特征和管理。方法：这是一项横断面研究，涉及2019年5月1日至2022年4月30日期间在城市、农村和偏远地区的初级保健机构就诊的所有19岁以下儿科患者。每次儿科咨询的数据由初级保健站点的卫生保健工作者实时编码到电子健康记录（EHR）中。菲律宾初级保健研究数据管理团队从电子病历中提取了研究参与者的咨询月份和年份、咨询频率、人口统计学因素（包括年龄、性别和地点）以及临床因素（包括主诉、诊断、管理和过敏性疾病家族史）。结果：在2019年5月1日至2022年4月30日的3年研究期间，共有20380名儿科患者在3个初级保健站点就诊，其中546名（2.7%）有过敏症状。所有部位最常见的过敏性疾病是哮喘（74.9%），其次是特应性皮炎（13.2%）和过敏性接触性皮炎（8.1%）。每位患者的平均会诊次数为1.2次（标准差：0.7）。在不同部位观察到不同过敏条件的药理学处理有显著差异。结论：在3个初级保健中心就诊的儿科患者中，过敏状况的患病率为2.7%，尽管由于漏诊，特别是对轻度或无症状疾病的漏诊，以及初级保健机构缺乏确证性检测，这可能被低估了。一线药物的利用不足和非基本药物的过度使用在农村和偏远地区更为明显。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Asia Pacific Allergy ALLERGY-

CiteScore

2.50

自引率

5.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Asia Pacific Allergy (AP Allergy) is the official journal of the Asia Pacific Association of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology (APAAACI). Although the primary aim of the journal is to promote communication between Asia Pacific scientists who are interested in allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology including immunodeficiency, the journal is intended to be available worldwide. To enable scientists and clinicians from emerging societies appreciate the scope and intent of the journal, early issues will contain more educational review material. For better communication and understanding, it will include rational concepts related to the diagnosis and management of asthma and other immunological conditions. Over time, the journal will increase the number of original research papers to become the foremost citation journal for allergy and clinical immunology information of the Asia Pacific in the future.