Prenatal maternal stress and the risk of allergic rhinitis in offspring: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Zixin Liu, Yani Zeng, Zhao Ru et al.
✦ AI-curated · Sources linked
In 30 seconds
This systematic review and meta-analysis examined whether maternal stress during pregnancy is associated with allergic rhinitis (AR) in offspring. It pooled findings from 9 studies involving 40,630 participants. Prenatal maternal stress was associated with higher odds of AR in children (OR = 1.69, 95% CI:1.51-1.86, P < 0.001; I 2 = 47.78%). In analyses by stress type, the association was lowest for prenatal anxiety, followed by depression, and highest for stressful life events. These findings indicate an association, but do not establish that prenatal stress causes AR.
Key findings
- Across 9 studies and 40,630 participants, prenatal maternal stress was associated with offspring AR (OR = 1.69, 95% CI:1.51-1.86, P < 0.001, I 2 = 47.78%).
- Prenatal anxiety was associated with AR at OR = 1.42, 95% CI:1.20-1.63, P < 0.001, I 2 = 42.67%.
- Prenatal depression was associated with AR at OR = 1.61, 95%CI:1.40-1.82, P < 0.001, I 2 = 54.74%.
- Stressful life events had the largest reported association: OR = 1.74, 95% CI:1.29-2.18, P < 0.001, I 2 = 70.04%.
Why it matters
The pooled findings suggest that prenatal maternal stress may be relevant to childhood allergic rhinitis risk, with estimates varying by stress type. This supports attention to the potential relationship between maternal wellbeing during pregnancy and offspring allergic outcomes. Because the review reports associations, the results should not be interpreted as showing that stress causes allergic rhinitis.
What to keep in mind
The meta-analysis combines only 9 studies, and heterogeneity varied across analyses, reaching I 2 = 70.04% for stressful life events.