Mapping the Burden and Risk Factors of Allergic Diseases and Asthma Among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: A Scoping Review.
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Scoping review synthesizing heterogeneous observational and descriptive studies
PubMed 40836867 · doi:10.1111/cea.70138
What was done
MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, and Web of Science Core Collection were searched through March 2024 to identify studies reporting on allergic diseases and asthma among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Study characteristics and outcome data were extracted and synthesized narratively.
What was found
A total of 54 studies representing an estimated 176,792 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were included. Reported conditions comprised asthma (n = 48), eczema (n = 10), allergic rhinitis (n = 6), atopy (n = 3), mixed allergies (n = 2), and anaphylaxis (n = 1); zero studies solely investigated food allergies. Most research originated from Western Australia (n = 15) and the Northern Territory (n = 14). Prevalence estimates varied substantially: asthma from 2.0% to 50.5%, eczema from 2.0% to 44.4%, allergic rhinitis from 0.2% to 37.3%, and atopy from 1.7% to 36.4%. Smoke exposure and lower socioeconomic status were identified as risk factors for asthma, while family history of allergy was linked to allergic rhinitis.
Why it matters
The findings map existing evidence and highlight major gaps in allergy research for Indigenous Australians, notably the near-absence of data on food allergies and anaphylaxis alongside extreme variation in reported prevalence rates.
Limits
Reported prevalence ranges were extremely broad across included studies, reflecting substantial methodological heterogeneity. Most data were geographically concentrated in Western Australia and the Northern Territory, and non-asthma allergic conditions were sparsely represented. Quality or risk of bias of the included studies was not detailed in the abstract.
Cited by
- contradicts Conditions including autism, atopy, allergies, asthma, eczema, and autoimmune diseases are largely absent in indigenous cultures worldwide.