Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34934469›Full record

ArticleThe World Allergy Organization journal2021

Association of infant antibiotic exposure and risk of childhood asthma: A meta-analysis.

Zeyi Zhang, Jingjing Wang, Haixia Wang, Yizhang Li, Yuanmin Jia, Mo Yi, Ou Chen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The World Allergy Organization journal, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
15citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

15 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Allergic but not autoimmune comorbidities in children with PFAPA: A nationwide matched case-control cohort study.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2026
    Article
  4. Review
  5. Review
  6. Postnatal antibiotic exposure due to maternal group B streptococcus is associated with childhood asthma.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2025
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Review
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Early-Life Dysbiosis and Th17 Asthma: Never Is Better than Late.American journal of respiratory cell and molecular biology · 2023
    Article
  14. Article
  15. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Zeyi ZhangSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.
Jingjing WangSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.
Haixia WangSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.
Yizhang LiSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.
Yuanmin JiaSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.
Mo YiSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.
Ou ChenSchool of Nursing and Rehabilitation, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, #44 West Wenhua Road, Jinan, 250012, China.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundInfant antibiotic exposure may be associated with childhood asthma development.

objectiveTo examine and detail this association considering potential confounders. STUDY

designPubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library were searched for publications from January 2011 to March 2021. Eligible studies were independently reviewed to extract data and assess quality. Random effect model was used to pool odds ratio (OR) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs).

resultsA total of 52 studies were included. The association of infant antibiotic exposure and childhood asthma was statistically significant for overall analysis (OR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.29-1.45) and for studies that addressed reverse causation (RC) and confounding by indication (CbI) (1.19; 95% CI, 1.11-1.28). Significance remained after stratification by adjustment for maternal antibiotic exposure, medical consultation, sex, smoke exposure, parental allergy, birth weight, and delivery mode. In detailed analyses, macrolides (OR, 1.56; 95% CI, 1.31-1.86), antibiotic course≥5 (OR, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.36-2.36), exposure within 1 week of birth (OR, 1.82; 95% CI, 1.34-2.47), asthma developed among 1-3 years (OR, 1.84; 95% CI, 1.63-2.08), short time lag between exposure and asthma onset (OR, 2.05; 95% CI, 1.91-2.20), persistent asthma (OR, 2.61; 95% CI, 1.49-4.59), and atopic asthma (OR, 2.14; 95% CI, 1.58-2.90) showed higher pooled estimates.

conclusionInfant antibiotic exposure is associated with increased risk of childhood asthma considering confounding, and the association varied with different settings of exposure and outcomes. This highlights the need for prevention of asthma after early antibiotic exposure. Heterogeneity among studies called for caution when interpretation.

Indexed as

AntibioticAsthmaChildhoodConfoundingmeta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID34934469
PMCPMC8661061

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.