Background: As children represent the future, ensuring that they receive proper health care should be a primary concern of our societies. Epidemiological research underpins the importance of effective child health care strategies, and highlights the need for accurate data collection; such surveys are currently lacking in Taiwan. In our descriptive studies, we compared the differences of the ten most common diseases in the year 2000 and 2009 among Taiwanese children.Methods: Data for a total of 174,651 and 142,200 visits under eighteen years old were collected from the National Health Insurance Research Database in year 2000 and 2009. A maximum of three outpatient diagnostic codes (the International Classification of Disease [ICD], ninth revision) could be listed for every visit. Data were categorized according to the principal diagnoses, age and different specialties of physicians.Results: Respiratory tract infection was the most common disease (58.21% to 44.77%). Teeth (4.90% to 5.16%) and eye (2.52% to 3.15%) problems were the also in the list of top ten diseases. In year 2009, the rate of allergic rhinitis was 2.87% in 7-18 years old group. Pediatricians were the first option for consultation, followed by ear, nose and throat specialists and family physicians. However, for the school age children group, the role of pediatricians with regards to children's health care showed a decrease in its importance.Conclusions: The amount of information relevant to child health care is rapidly expanding. The ten most common diseases of the present analysis may serve as baseline data for future evaluations of the changes of type of diseases among children.

Background: The association between asthma (AS), allergic rhinitis (AR) and oral diseases remains inconclusive in adults. AS and AR often coexist. However, studies that investigate AS, AR together and their association with oral diseases are scarce. Methods: Data from 22,898 men and 28,541 women, aged 21 to 25 years, were collected from a national database in Taiwan. Five common oral diseases: dental caries, periodontitis, pulpitis, gingivitis, and stomatitis/aphthae were studied. Differences in the incidence of the five oral diseases in AR vs. non-AR, and AS vs. non-AS groups were compared. The incidence of the five oral diseases in men/ women, urban/country citizen, and high/low income groups was studied. The frequencies of clinical visits and impact of topical steroid use between the groups were also studied. The confounding factors included sex, socioeconomic status, urbanization, dentofacial anomalies, disease of salivary flow, diabetes mellitus, and esophageal reflux. Results: The incidence and the frequencies of clinical visits for all five oral diseases were higher in those with AR than in the non-AR group after adjusting for confounding factors and AS. Similar observation was made for the AS group, without adjusting for AR. However, if AR was included for adjustment, no relationship was found between AS and oral diseases. In the AR group, those with higher incomes, and country residents had a high risk of developing oral disease. Intranasal steroids, rather than inhaled steroids, were also associated with oral diseases. Conclusion: AR, rather than AS, may be associated with oral diseases in young adults.

The association between air pollution, allergic rhinitis (AR), and obesity has not been studied. From 2007 to 2011, 52 obese and 152 non-obese children (7–17 years old) with AR were recruited. Pediatric-Rhinoconjunctivitis-Quality-of-Life Questionnaire (PRQLQ) and nasal peak expiratory flow (NPEF) were tested. Association between the scores and rates of the two tests and mean air pollutant concentrations within 7 days before the tests were compared. When exposed to higher concentrations of CO, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5, the rates of worse nasal discomfort were 39.4%, 44.4% and 39.3% in obese children; and 18.0%, 21.9% and 19.7% in non-obese children, respectively. Compare to non-obese children, the rates in obese children were higher for CO (odds ratio (OR) 3.54, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.15 ~ 10.92); PM₁₀ (OR 3.26, 95% CI 1.01 ~ 10.57) and PM2.5 (OR 3.30; 95% CI 1.03 ~ 10.54). In obese children, correlations between higher concentrations of CO, PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and higher nasal discomfort (higher PRQLQ); and correlations between higher concentrations of CO, PM₁₀, PM_2.5, NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbon) and higher nasal mucosa inflammation (lower NPEF) were noted. Obesity negatively affected AR severity when AR children experienced higher concentrations of CO, PM₁₀, and PM_2.5. Increased nasal inflammation induced by air pollutants might be the underlying mechanism.