Sex-specific incidence of asthma, rhinitis and respiratory multimorbidity before and after puberty onset: individual participant meta-analysis of five birth cohorts collaborating in MeDALL.

Introduction: To understand the puberty-related sex shift in the prevalence of asthma and rhinitis as single entities and as respiratory multimorbidities, we investigated if there is also a sex-specific and puberty-related pattern of their incidences.

Methods: We used harmonised questionnaire data from 18 451 participants in five prospective observational European birth cohorts within the collaborative MeDALL (Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy) project. Outcome definitions for IgE-associated and non-IgE-associated asthma, rhinitis and respiratory multimorbidity (first occurrence of coexisting asthma and rhinitis) were based on questionnaires and the presence of specific antibodies (IgE) against common allergens in serum.

How effective is the early support program for psychosocially burdened mothers and their infants? A comparative intervention study.

Objectives: Our aim was to examine the effects of an early perinatal prevention program offered to mothers and families suffering from significant psychosocial burden.

Methods: All mothers giving birth in a Berlin university hospital during Jan-Aug 2013 were screened with a standardized 27-item questionnaire by trained staff. Mothers with a screening-score ≥ 3, who were not enrolled in other public support programs, were defined as psychosocially burdened.

Integrating Clinical and Epidemiologic Data on Allergic Diseases Across Birth Cohorts: A Harmonization Study in the Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy Project.

The numbers of international collaborations among birth cohort studies designed to better understand asthma and allergies have increased in the last several years. However, differences in definitions and methods preclude direct pooling of original data on individual participants. As part of the Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy (MeDALL) Project, we harmonized data from 14 birth cohort studies (each with 3-20 follow-up periods) carried out in 9 European countries during 1990-1998 or 2003-2009.

Sex-Related Allergic Rhinitis Prevalence Switch from Childhood to Adulthood: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: A sex-related switch in the prevalence of asthma from childhood (male predominance) to adulthood (female predominance) has been described, but for allergic rhinitis this remains unclear. We aimed to examine sex- and age-group-specific differences in allergic rhinitis prevalence by systematically evaluating studies from across the globe.

Methods: A systematic search of MEDLINE and Embase for population-based cross-sectional studies was performed regardless of the language of publication.

Implicit and explicit attitudes towards conventional and complementary and alternative medicine treatments: Introduction of an Implicit Association Test.

This study examined associations between anticipated future health behaviour and participants' attitudes. Three Implicit Association Tests were developed to assess safety, efficacy and overall attitude. They were used to examine preference associations between conventional versus complementary and alternative medicine among 186 participants.

The development of the MeDALL Core Questionnaires for a harmonized follow-up assessment of eleven European birth cohorts on asthma and allergies.

Background: Numerous birth cohorts have been initiated in the world over the past 30 years using heterogeneous methods to assess the incidence, course and risk factors of asthma and allergies. The aim of the present work is to provide the stepwise proceedings of the development and current version of the harmonized MeDALL-Core Questionnaire (MeDALL-CQ) used prospectively in 11 European birth cohorts.

Methods: The harmonization of questions was accomplished in 4 steps: (i) collection of variables from 14 birth cohorts, (ii) consensus on questionnaire items, (iii) translation and back-translation of the harmonized English MeDALL-CQ into 8 other languages and (iv) implementation of the harmonized follow-up.

Comorbidity of eczema, rhinitis, and asthma in IgE-sensitised and non-IgE-sensitised children in MeDALL: a population-based cohort study.

Background: Eczema, rhinitis, and asthma often coexist (comorbidity) in children, but the proportion of comorbidity not attributable to either chance or the role of IgE sensitisation is unknown. We assessed these factors in children aged 4-8 years.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we assessed children from 12 ongoing European birth cohort studies participating in MeDALL (Mechanisms of the Development of ALLergy).

Impact of chemotherapy and radiotherapy in childhood on fertility in adulthood: the FeCt-survey of childhood cancer survivors in Germany.

Purpose: Improved treatment for childhood cancer has led to better survival rates of 83 % today. However, long-term side effects including infertility of pediatric patients receiving oncologic treatment remain unclear. We examined the association of chemotherapy and radiotherapy with infertility in survivors of pediatric cancer.

Environmental exposure assessment in European birth cohorts: results from the ENRIECO project.

Environmental exposures during pregnancy and early life may have adverse health effects. Single birth cohort studies often lack statistical power to tease out such effects reliably. To improve the use of existing data and to facilitate collaboration among these studies, an inventory of the environmental exposure and health data in these studies was made as part of the ENRIECO (Environmental Health Risks in European Birth Cohorts) project.

Maternal smoking in pregnancy and asthma in preschool children: a pooled analysis of eight birth cohorts.

Rationale: Although epidemiological studies suggest that exposure to maternal smoking during fetal and early life increases the risk of childhood wheezing and asthma, previous studies were not able to differentiate the effects of prenatal from postnatal exposure.

Objectives: To assess the effect of exposure to maternal smoking only during pregnancy on wheeze and asthma among preschool-age children.

Methods: A pooled analysis was performed based on individual participant data from eight European birth cohorts.

Health effects of chronic noise exposure in pregnancy and childhood: a systematic review initiated by ENRIECO.

Background: Chronic noise is an environmental pollutant and well-known to cause annoyance and sleep disturbance. Its association with clinical and subclinical adverse health effects has been discussed.

Objectives: This systematic review aimed to examine associations between chronic noise exposure during pregnancy or childhood and health outcomes in early and late childhood.

Childhood leukemia and its impact on graduation and having children: results from a national survey.

To assess the level of graduation, the wish to have children and the course of pregnancy among former patients with childhood leukemia in comparison to the general German population and depending on gender, a nationwide survey was conducted in 2008. In total 63.6% (1476/2319) of the contacted survivors of childhood leukemia participated (mean age 25.

Association between self-reported questionnaire data on fertility and results of hormone analyses in women after childhood cancer: a cross-sectional study.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare self-reported questionnaire-based information on fertility impairment with results from hormone analyses in women who underwent chemoradiotherapy during childhood and adolescence.

Material And Methods: In a cross-sectional study, questionnaires and hormone analyses (anti-Müllerian hormone [AMH], follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, estradiol, progesterone) were evaluated in 86 female former pediatric oncology patients in Berlin in 2009.

Results: Eighty-six women (median age 23 years, range 19-41) participated in the study with a median follow up of 14 years (range 2-30) after diagnosis.

Age at menarche in childhood cancer survivors: results of a nationwide survey in Germany.

Background/aims: With rising cure rates of childhood cancer, side effects of treatment are attracting increasing interest. The present analysis evaluates the influence of tumor localization, radiotherapy and chemotherapy on the age of menarche.

Methods: 4,689 former pediatric oncology patients, diagnosed 1980-2004, were contacted in collaboration with the German Childhood Cancer Registry.

Suspected infertility after treatment for leukemia and solid tumors in childhood and adolescence.

Background: With improved cure rates of cancer in children and adolescents, the long-term effects of oncological treatment, including impaired fertility, have become an important clinical issue.

Methods: In 2008, we conducted a nationwide survey in Germany in which we asked 4689 female and male patients who had been treated for cancer in childhood or adolescence for information on menstruation, previous fertility testing (if any), attempts to conceive, and pregnancies. In a complementary study carried out in 2009, 748 former cancer patients in Berlin were offered hormone testing and sperm analysis.

Understanding the complexity of IgE-related phenotypes from childhood to young adulthood: a Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy (MeDALL) seminar.

Mechanisms of the Development of Allergy (MeDALL), a Seventh Framework Program European Union project, aims to generate novel knowledge on the mechanisms of initiation of allergy. Precise phenotypes of IgE-mediated allergic diseases will be defined in MeDALL. As part of MeDALL, a scientific seminar was held on January 24, 2011, to review current knowledge on the IgE-related phenotypes and to explore how a multidisciplinary effort could result in a new integrative translational approach.

German translation of the Southampton Needle Sensation Questionnaire: use in an experimental acupuncture study.

Objective: To create a German version of the Southampton Needle Sensation Questionnaire (SNSQ) in order to measure deqi (needling sensation) in subjects receiving different forms of acupuncture and to evaluate the translated questionnaire in an acupuncture study.

Methods: A forward and backward translation procedure was applied to create a German version of the SNSQ. Discrepancies between translations were resolved by consensus.

European birth cohorts for environmental health research.

Background: Many pregnancy and birth cohort studies investigate the health effects of early-life environmental contaminant exposure. An overview of existing studies and their data is needed to improve collaboration, harmonization, and future project planning.

Objectives: Our goal was to create a comprehensive overview of European birth cohorts with environmental exposure data.

Patient counselling on the risk of infertility and its impact on childhood cancer survivors: results from a national survey.

Fertility can be impaired by radiation and chemotherapy among childhood cancer survivors. Therefore, timely and adequate patient counselling about the risk of infertility and preservation methods is needed. The primary study objective was to assess remembered counselling among childhood cancer survivors.