Greenspace and Atopic Sensitization in Children and Adolescents—A Systematic Review

Katrina A. Lambert, Gayan Bowatte, Rachel Tham, Caroline J. Lodge, Luke A. Prendergast, Joachim Heinrich, Michael J. Abramson, Shyamali C. Dharmage and Bircan Erbas
Additional contact information
Katrina A. Lambert: School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, 3086 Bundoora, Australia
Gayan Bowatte: Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, 3000 Melbourne, Australia
Rachel Tham: Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, 3000 Melbourne, Australia
Caroline J. Lodge: Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, 3000 Melbourne, Australia
Luke A. Prendergast: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, La Trobe University, 3086 Bundoora, Australia
Joachim Heinrich: Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, 3000 Melbourne, Australia
Michael J. Abramson: School of Public Health & Preventive Medicine, Monash University, 3004 Melbourne, Australia
Shyamali C. Dharmage: Allergy and Lung Health Unit, Centre for Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, 3000 Melbourne, Australia
Bircan Erbas: School of Psychology and Public Health, La Trobe University, 3086 Bundoora, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 11, 1-12

Abstract: In the last decade, studies investigating greenspace have highlighted several benefits to human health. However, the effect of greenspace on allergies and atopic sensitization in children was not clear. While several studies have investigated this link, the evidence has not been systematically synthesized. We conducted a systematic search of eight databases. Study characteristics and findings were extracted from five articles covering 11 cohorts published between 2012 and 2016, and study quality assessments were performed. Due to significant heterogeneity, meta-analysis was not conducted. Findings were not consistent, possibly due to variations in exposure measurements, study populations and location, the specific allergens tested, and inclusion of confounders. Protective effects from greenspace were reported in four cohorts, while two cohorts showed an increase in sensitization related to greenspace. The other five cohorts found no significant effect of greenspace on atopic sensitization. There is limited understanding of the contributions of greenspace to specific allergens. Future research should consider amount and type of greenspace, as well as the specific allergens tested.

Keywords: atopy; IgE; skin prick; greenness (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2539/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/11/2539/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:15:y:2018:i:11:p:2539-:d:182399

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().