Abstract
Studies on the longitudinal changes in sensitization to aeroallergens in adult populations are sparse. The aim was to evaluate changes in sensitization to aeroallergens [birch, timothy, cat and house dust mite (HDM)] in an unselected adult population aged from 31 to 46 years. Data were gathered from a cohort of adults (Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966) who had been skin prick tested (SPT) with birch, timothy, cat and HDM allergens at the age of 31 years and at age 46 (n = 5484 and 5373 respectively). Data from both time points were available for 3409 participants, who made up the cohort of the longitudinal study. The overall prevalence of sensitization to any of the selected allergens was 30.3% (n = 1661) in 31-year-olds and 30.7% (n = 1649) in 46-year-olds. In general, men were more sensitized (P < 0.001) and also had more polysensitization (P < 0.001) compared to women. In longitudinal sub-population incidence of sensitization was 7.1%. Birch was the most prevalent new sensitizer, however, the difference was not statistically significant when compared to cat. We conclude that new sensitization, demonstrated by positive findings in SPT, can still occur in middle age and this should be taken into account when managing allergic manifestations in adults as sensitization can be considered the first step in developing clinical allergy.
Highlights
Abbreviations NFBC 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 immunoglobulin E (IgE) Immunoglobulin E skin prick test (SPT) Skin prick test house dust mite (HDM) House dust mite
Cross-sectional studies report that allergic sensitization is very common in the general adult population: a study conducted in Helsinki, Finland (n = 498; 26–60 years) found that nearly half of the adult population (46.9%) tested for 15 aeroallergens had at least one positive skin prick test (SPT)[5]
In Denmark, a study of repeated specific IgE assessments performed during the years 1985–2011 found an increase in sensitization to aeroallergens when participants were followed from the age of 1–26 years[10]
Summary
Abbreviations NFBC 1966 Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 IgE Immunoglobulin E SPT Skin prick test HDM House dust mite. Cross-sectional studies report that allergic sensitization is very common in the general adult population: a study conducted in Helsinki, Finland (n = 498; 26–60 years) found that nearly half of the adult population (46.9%) tested for 15 aeroallergens had at least one positive skin prick test (SPT)[5]. Previous longitudinal studies have reported that sensitization to aeroallergens increases with age at least until early adulthood[9,10,11,12,13]. In an Italian longitudinal study of 788 participants, sensitization to common allergens increased with age, but mainly in subjects under the age of 40 years[12]. The aim of this study was to investigate incidence, remission and longitudinal changes in prevalence of sensitization in a large adult cohort in Northern Finland followed from age 31 to 46 years. We aimed to analyze the prevalence of polysensitization to common aeroallergens and to study differences in sensitization between genders among unselected adult population
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