Antibiotic overuse and allergy-related diseases: an epidemiological cross-sectional study in the grasslands of Northern China

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographics characteristics of the study subjects

Characteristic	Adults				Children
	Total	MUA	NMUA	P-value	Total	MUA	NMUA	P-value
	3,526	658	2,868		2,261	421	1,840
Gender, n (%)				<0.001				0.490
Male	1,611	254 (15.8)	1,357 (84.2)		1,158	222 (19.2)	936 (80.8)
Female	1,915	404 (21.1)	1,511 (88.9)		1,103	199 (18.0)	904 (82.0)
Race, n (%)				0.370				0.198
Han	2,055	399 (19.4)	1,656 (80.6)		1,102	195 (17.7)	907 (82.3)
Mongolian	1,334	233 (17.5)	1,101 (82.5)		1,037	208 (20.1)	829 (80.0)
Others	137	26 (19.0)	111 (81.0)		122	18 (14.8)	104 (85.3)
Area of residence, n (%)				<0.001				<0.001
Urban	1,709	383 (22.4)	1,326 (77.6)		1,151	249 (21.6)	902 (78.4)
Rura	1,817	275 (15.13)	1,542 (84.87)		1,110	172 (15.50)	938 (84.50)
Family allergy history, n (%)				<0.001				<0.001
Yes	1,131	350 (30.95)	781 (69.05)		780	207 (26.54)	573 (73.46)
No	2,292	290 (12.7)	2,002 (87.4)		1,427	210 (14.7)	1,217 (85.3)
Unknown	103	18 (17.5)	85 (82.5)		54	4 (7.4)	50 (92.6)
Allergy-related diseases
Allergic rhinitis (AR), n (%)				<0.001				0.001
Yes	1,278	308 (24.1)	970 (75.9)		621	142 (22.9)	479 (77.1)
No	2,248	350 (15.6)	1,898 (84.4)		1,640	279 (17.0)	1,361 (83.0)
Conjunctivitis, n (%)				<0.001				0.007
Yes	1,220	271 (22.2)	949 (77.8)		412	96 (23.3)	316 (76.7)
No	2,306	387 (16.8)	1,919 (83.2)		1,849	325 (17.6)	1,524 (82.4)
Chronic urticarial (CU), n (%)				0.111				0.001
Yes	191	44 (23.0)	147 (76.9)		68	23 (33.8)	45 (66.2)
No	3,335	614 (18.4)	2,721 (81.6)		2,193	398 (18.2)	1,795 (81.9)
Asthma				<0.001				<0.001
Yes	219	69 (31.5)	150 (68.5)		155	50 (32.3)	105 (67.7)
No	3,307	589 (17.8)	2,718 (82.2)		2,106	371 (17.6)	1,735 (82.4)

Abbreviations: MUA, multiple uses of antibiotics; NMUA, non-MUA.

Table 2 Comparison of the prevalence of all four diseases in children with MUA

Diseases	MUA	NMUA	X^2 value	P-value
Allergic rhinitis, n (%)
Yes	142 (33.7)	479 (26.0)	10.187	0.001
No	279 (67.3)	1,361 (74.0)
Asthma, n (%)
Yes	96 (22.8)	316 (17.2)	7.285	0.007
No	325 (77.2)	1,524 (82.8)
Conjunctivitis, n (%)
Yes	50 (11.9)	105 (5.7)	20.426	<0.001
No	371 (88.1)	1,735 (94.3)
Chronic urticaria, n (%)
Yes	23 (5.5)	45 (2.4)	10.694	0.002
No	398 (94.5)	1,795 (97.6)

Note: Chi-squared test was performed in this table. The results have been confirmed by adjusting the common variables and confounding factors, such as age, gender, ethnicity, and living area (urban or rural) using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Abbreviations: MUA, multiple uses of antibiotics; NMUA, non-MUA.

Table 3 Comparison of the prevalence of all four diseases in adults with MUA

Diseases	MUA	NMUA	X^2 value	P-value
Allergic rhinitis, n (%)
Yes	308 (46.8)	970 (33.8)	39.064	<0.001
No	350 (53.2)	1,898 (66.2)
Asthma, n (%)
Yes	69 (10.5)	150 (5.2)	25.384	<0.001
No	589 (89.5)	2,718 (94.8)
Conjunctivitis, n (%)
Yes	271 (41.2)	949 (33.1)	15.503	<0.001
No	387 (58.8)	1,919 (66.9)
Chronic urticaria, n (%)
Yes	44 (6.7)	147 (5.4)	2.547	0.111
No	614 (93.3)	2,721 (94.6)

Note: Chi-squared test was performed in this table. The results have been confirmed by adjusting the common variables and confounding factors, such as age, gender, ethnicity, and living area (urban or rural) using multivariate logistic regression analysis.

Abbreviations: MUA, multiple uses of antibiotics; NMUA, non-MUA.

Table 4 Comparison of the presence of MUA in allergic patients presenting single or combined diseases

Disease type	Number	MUA^a	Rate of MUA(%)	X^2 value^b	P-value
Children				6.059	0.014
One disease	447	90	20.1
Two diseases	272	68	25.0
Three or more diseases	86	27	31.4
Adults				16.399	<0.001
One disease	944	180	19.1
Two diseases	715	167	23.4
Three or more diseases	173	57	32.9

Notes: ^aNumber of patients with MUA. ^bLinear-by-Linear Association Chi-Square Test.

Abbreviations: MUA, multiple uses of antibiotics; NMUA, non-MUA.