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A population-based 5-year follow-up of allergic rhinitis in Chinese children
Weijia Kong1, Jianjun Chen, Yanjun Wang
1Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. entwjkong@yahoo.com.cn
Insights
This 5-year study followed Chinese children with allergic rhinitis (AR). Results show distinct natural courses for AR with positive skin-prick tests (SPT) versus those with symptoms but negative SPT.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Longitudinal Cohort Studies
- Epidemiology of Allergic Diseases
Background:
- Limited longitudinal data exists on allergic rhinitis (AR) in Chinese children.
- Previous prevalence study in 2005-2006 provides a baseline for this cohort.
- This study aims to observe the natural progression of AR over five years.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the 5-year natural course of allergic rhinitis in a cohort of Chinese children.
- To compare the progression of AR based on initial symptom and skin-prick test (SPT) status.
Main Methods:
- A cohort of 1211 children from a prior study was followed for 5 years.
- Telephone interviews assessed nasal symptoms, asthma, and allergy-related issues at years 1, 3, and 5.
- Skin-prick tests (SPTs) were repeated on eligible children after the 5-year follow-up.
Main Results:
- 870 children (71.8%) completed the 5-year observation.
- In year 5, 29.4% of children had positive nasal symptoms.
- Children initially positive for symptoms and SPT remained highly positive (91.4%), while those with symptoms but negative SPT showed lower persistence (43.3%).
- Most previously SPT-positive children remained SPT-positive (96.1%), with few new SPT-positive cases emerging from SPT-negative children (3.9%).
Conclusions:
- The natural course of allergic rhinitis differs significantly between children with positive SPT and those with symptoms but negative SPT.
- Long-term AR persistence is strongly associated with initial positive SPT results.
Background:
There have been few longitudinal investigations of allergic rhinitis (AR) in Chinese children. We previously conducted an investigation of the prevalence of AR in 3- to 6-year old children for the year of 2005-2006. The aim of this study was to observe the natural course of AR in children in the previously investigated population during a cohort study for 5 years.
Methods:
A total of 1211 children in the previously investigated population were included in this study. Telephone interviews were conducted three times during the 1st, 3rd, and 5th year from the previous study.(14) Questions including duration, severity of nasal symptoms, asthma, and related problems of allergy were examined. Skin-prick tests (SPTs) were performed again on those children who had done SPTs in the previous study(14) after the last follow-up (i.e., after 5 years).
Results:
Of the 1211 children, 870 (71.8%) completed the 5-year observation period. In the 5th year, the prevalence of positive nasal symptoms was 29.4% (256 of the 870 children), including 64/70 (91.4%) of those who were formerly symptom positive and SPT(+), 45/104 (43.3%) of those who were formerly symptom positive and SPT(-), 40/66 (60.6%) of those who were formerly symptom positive with SPTs not performed (SPTs[x]), and 107/630 (17.0%) of those who were formerly symptom negative. SPT results showed that 96.1% (73/76) of previous SPT(+) children remained SPT(+); only 3.9% (6/154) became SPT(+) in previous SPT(-) children.
Conclusion:
We concluded that the natural course of AR (symptom positive and SPT(+)) and non-AR (symptom positive and SPT(-)) children were quite different.
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