Regional differences in prevalence of pollinosis by social area type

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to examine regional differences in the prevalence of pollinosis by social area type in a geodemographics dataset by carrying out binomial logistic regression analysis on the 2002-2006 Japanese General Social Surveys （JGSS） data. The results indicate that people living in rural areas and working in the agriculture and forestry industries are less prone to contract- ing pollinosis, and people with a higher household income have a higher risk of contracting the dis- ease compared to those with a lower household income. These findings are consistent with the hy- giene hypothesis that sanitary environments impair normal development of immunity and increase the risk of contracting allergic diseases. This study also exemplifies the usefulness of geodemo- graphics as a concise indicator of the local environment for explanatory analysis of environmental health risks of pollinosis.