Atopy in childhood. I. Gender and allergen related risks for development of hay fever and asthma

Abstract

Reasons for the gender differences in prevalence rates for asthma remain unclear. We have examined the relationships between allergen skin-test reactions and diagnoses of hay fever and asthma in New Zealand boys and girls examined at the age of 13 years. Information on current and past wheezing, diagnosed asthma, and hay fever was obtained for 662 subjects (341 boys) of a birth cohort followed longitudinally to the age of 13 years, using a physician-administered questionnaire. Atopic status was determined by skin-prick tests to 11 common allergens. The proportion of 13-year-old boys with current asthma was 1.6 times higher and of ever-diagnosed asthma 1.4 times higher than in girls, but the prevalence of recurrent wheeze (> or = three episodes per year) not diagnosed as asthma, or of hay fever, was not significantly different between the sexes. The prevalence of diagnosed asthma increased with increasing numbers of positive skin tests, but hay fever without asthma was little affected above one positive skin-test. Boys had a greater prevalence of any positive skin-test (50.1% vs 37.1%), two or more positive tests (29.3% vs 21.8%), and responses to house dust mite (34.0% vs 23.1%) and cat (14.7% vs 11.2%). Gender differences for asthma became insignificant when adjusted for skin-test responsiveness to house dust mite and/or cat. The proportion of children with diagnosed asthma increased with increasing size of weals to house dust mite and cat dander. Gender differences in allergen sensitivities partly explain the gender differences in diagnosed asthma in children. In both sexes, risk of asthma was primarily associated with sensitization to indoor allergens (house dust mite and cat), and was related to the magnitude of the skin-test response, while the risk of hay fever was primarily associated with grass pollen sensitivity.

Exhaled nitric oxide measurements with dynamic flow restriction in children aged 4–8 yrs

“…Male and female children in the present study did not differ in weight, height or age. Female children were not expected to have a higher prevalence of atopy or mild asthma and symptom scores did not differ between males and females (p=0.48) [23,24]. As atopy was not measured specifically, a difference in atopic status between males and females may still be possible in this relatively small sample.…”

Hospitalizações por asma: impacto de um programa de controle de asma e rinite alérgica em Feira de Santana (BA)

“…In this study, the combination of asthma and allergic rhinitis was seen in over 80% of the patients in the two age brackets, which is in accordance with studies indicating that nasal symptoms occur in 30-80% of all patients with asthma and in up to 99% of those who are atopic. (20) Studies have shown that rhinitis and asthma are interrelated, and that the appropriate treatment of allergic rhinitis improves asthma control, decreasing symptoms and reducing the risk of emergency room visits and hospitalizations. (21)(22)(23)(24)(25) Indeed, 35 children in the ProAR-FS with mild asthma (23.6% of the sample of children and adolescents) and persistent rhinitis, using exclusively nasal corticosteroid, were not hospitalized, and there was a decrease of 84.2% in the frequency of emergency room visits during monitoring in the ProAR-FS.…”

A case‐control study of risk factors for asthma in New Zealand children

“…6,7 We found a similar effect in the univariate analysis; some of this effect was explained by atopy to dust mites and cat in the multivariate analysis. Sears et al 24 also found that gender differences for asthma reduced after adjustment for skin-test responsiveness to house dust mite and/or cat. Reasons for the residual excess prevalence among boys are unknown.…”