The association between mental health disorders and allergic reactions: a multicenter retrospective analysis

Psychiatric disorders and allergies are highly prevalent and are increasingly recognized as interconnected. This study aimed to characterize the association between psychiatric diagnosis and allergies by investigating correlations between a wide range of psychiatric diagnostic categories and the documentation of allergies to different types of allergens.

This was an IRB-approved, multi-center, retrospective analysis of patients aged 18-90 years old admitted to seven hospital sites across a large health system between October 1st, 2023, and September 30th, 2024. The primary analysis investigated the correlation between the presence of a psychiatric diagnosis and the number of documented allergies utilizing a linear regression model adjusted for potential confounders of age, sex, and body mass index, and the associations between specific psychiatric diagnosis categories and the number of allergies to non-psychiatric drugs, psychotropic drugs, and non-drug substances.

71,725 patients were included in the final analysis. A statistically significant positive correlation between the presence of any psychiatric diagnosis and the number of allergies was found: F (4, 71723) = 2722.091, B = 0.74, R² = 0.132, p < 0.001. The strongest associations were observed in somatic symptom and related disorders (B = 0.846, p < 0.001), trauma-and stressor-related disorders (B = 0.832, p < 0.001), and obsessive-compulsive and related disorders (B = 0.798, p < 0.001).

This study found that patients with psychiatric diagnoses had more documented allergies than those without psychiatric diagnoses. Psychiatric diagnoses associated with increased somatization reported more than other diagnoses, highlighting the importance of allergy verification in those with underlying psychiatric conditions.