Is sibship composition a risk factor for childhood asthma? Systematic review and meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Following the "hygiene hypothesis", the role of sibship composition in asthma and wheezing has been extensively studied, but the findings are inconsistent. For the first time, this systematic review and meta-analysis synthesized evidences from studies investigating the association of sibship size and birth order with risk of asthma and wheezing.

Methods

Fifteen databases were searched to identify eligible studies. Study selection and data extraction were performed independently by pairs of reviewers. Meta-analysis with robust variance estimation (RVE) was used to produce pooled risk ratio (RR) effect estimates from comparable numerical data.

Results

From 17,466 identified records, 158 reports of 134 studies (> 3 million subjects) were included. Any wheezing

SUBMITTER: Lisik D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10590346 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature