The Wayne Tri-county Health & Environment Allergy Study (WHEALS) birth cohort recruited pregnant women without regards to their allergic status. Prior WHEALS analyses demonstrated that by age 2 years Black children were more likely than White children to develop eczema/atopic dermatitis (AD); have higher total IgE; and, be atopic.(1) Black children were also more likely to be sensitized to each tested allergen (food and inhalant).(2) The goal of the present analyses was to investigate whether the associations between eczema/AD and IgE levels (total IgE and food and inhalant allergen-specific IgEs (sIgEs)) differed for Black children and White children in WHEALS.

At age 2 years, children underwent a clinical examination by a study-trained doctor. Blood was collected for measurement of sIgE for the following allergens: milk, egg, peanut, Alternaria, cat, cockroach, dog, Dermatophagoides farinae (Der f), short ragweed, and timothy grass. Physicians responded to the following question:“By your clinical evaluation do you believe that this child has or has had atopic dermatitis or eczema?” Hereafter, called eczema. Child race was based on maternal report. Further study details have been published.(1, 3) WHEALS participants included and excluded from these analyses are compared in Figure S1 and Table S1. Exclusions were due to incomplete data and our focus on the comparison of Black and White children.