Scientists from the Occupational & Environmental Epidemiology and Net Teaching Unit, Institute and Outpatient Clinic for Occupational, Social and Environmental Medicine at the University Hospital of Munich, Germany, have created a model for predicting the incidence and persistence of allergic rhinitis (AR) in adolescence. Models can be very useful in assisting doctors in advising patients with allergies.

The study was conducted on 2810 aged 9-11 years, and potential risk factors for atopic diseases were used to create the predictive models for doctor-diagnosed AR using current symptoms at age 15-18 years. Skin prick test results to outdoor and indoor allergens, as well as parental history of asthma, exclusive breastfeeding for the first two or more months of life, and gender were statistically significant risk factors.

The scientists concluded that the course AR will take in a child during puberty can be predicted using risk factors that are easy to determine in childhood. Significantly, sensitisation to outdoor allergens seems to be more predictive of AR than indoor allergens, which could be helpful for doctors advising patients.

Source: Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology

More research into rhinitis

First Published September 2011

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