제주지역 초·중·고등학생 알레르기 질환 유병률 및 흡입 알레르기 항원 양성률 비교 연구 - 도시·연안·감귤지역을 중심으로 -

Abstract

According to National Health Insurance Corporation data, 5,450,000 patients received medical treatment for atopic dermatitis, allergic rhinitis, and asthma in 2002 and the figure has increased up to 7,140,000 in 2007 and 7,590,000 in 2008. Also, the major environmental disease patients treatment status in each region in 2008 showed that Jeju Island had the largest number of atopic dermatitis patients, 326 in every 10,000 people in the population, and also the largest number of allergic rhinitis patients, 1,418 in every 10,000, and this trend continued from the previous year. It is not clear whether this means the actual disease rate or recurrence in Jeju Island or whether it was caused by the elements of medical service such as the access to medical service, oversupply, or unclear diagnostic criteria that the need for determining the level of allergic diseases exhibited in Jeju Island is coming to the fore. This study will examine the prevalence of allergic diseases in Jeju Island to clarify the probability on whether the level of allergic diseases exhibited in Jeju Island is actually higher than other regions. Jeju-si and Seogwipo-si were divided into Downtown Area, Coastal Area, and Tangerine Farm Area, and 6 elementary schools, 3 middle schools, and 4 high schools representing the number of students, sex ratio, and regional characteristics were selected randomly. Among 13 schools, 3 schools were selected in the Downtown Area, 6 schools in the Coastal Area, and 4 schools in the Tangerine Farm Area. 2,264 students were selected as samples and questionnaire surveys were collected from 1,974 (87.2%) from March 29 ~ April 9, 2010, and the prick skin test was performed on 1,665 (73.5%) students who obtained consent on the test from their parents between April 12 and 28. Unlike existing infectious diseases, environmental disease is related with living habits and environmental contamination in addition to biological factors that it is quite difficult to investigate the cause of disease and there are not many appropriate treatment methods for most diseases. The study must be continued in the form of cohort study which examines subjects in the long term from prenatal period to birth, childhood, preschool period, schooling period, and youth period to examine natural course and also investigate the interrelationship between genetic and environmental factors.