Risk factors for community-based reports of gastrointestinal, respiratory, and dermal symptoms: findings from a cohort study in Australia.

Background: Although gastrointestinal (GI), respiratory, and dermal symptoms are common, few studies have conducted concurrent and comparative prospective analyses of risk factors for these 3 morbidity outcomes.

Methods: We used data from a community-based randomized controlled trial among 277 South Australian families to analyze GI (diarrhea, vomiting), respiratory (sore throat, runny nose, cough) and dermal (rash, generalized itch, dermal infection) symptoms.

Results: Log-binomial regression analysis revealed similar risks of GI (adjusted risk ratio [RR], 1.65; 95% CI, 1.05-2.58) and respiratory (RR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.31-2.15) symptoms among childcare/kindergarten attendees. Swimming in public pools/spas in the current or previous week was associated with all 3 symptom complexes, conferring similar risk for each (RR for GI: 1.33; 95% CI, 0.99-1.77; respiratory: 1.20; 95% CI, 1.04-1.38; dermal: 1.41; 95% CI, 1.08-1.85). Pet ownership was not associated with symptoms. Household clustering of GI and respiratory symptoms was common, and clustering of respiratory symptoms correlated with number of individuals per household.

Conclusions: This simultaneous examination of risk factors for 3 health outcomes yielded new comparative data that are useful for developing prevention strategies.