A Multicenter Study Assessing Risk Factors and Aeroallergens Sensitization Characteristics in Children with Self-Reported Allergic Rhinitis in China

Liting Wu; Wenting Luo; Haisheng Hu; Xianhui Zheng; Zhangkai J Cheng; Dongming Huang; Xiaowen Huang; Hong Zhang; Yang Liu; Rongfang Zhang; Hui Yang; Yun Sun; Yi Wang; JinHai Ma; Jing Liu; Xin Sun; Huajie Wu; Chunhua Wei; Shuping Zhang; Xiaoluan Li; Shuang Ren; Chuangli Hao; Baoqing Sun

doi:10.2147/JAA.S342495

A Multicenter Study Assessing Risk Factors and Aeroallergens Sensitization Characteristics in Children with Self-Reported Allergic Rhinitis in China

J Asthma Allergy. 2021 Dec 7:14:1453-1462. doi: 10.2147/JAA.S342495. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Liting Wu^#¹, Wenting Luo^#¹, Haisheng Hu¹, Xianhui Zheng¹, Zhangkai J Cheng¹, Dongming Huang², Xiaowen Huang², Hong Zhang³, Yang Liu³, Rongfang Zhang⁴, Hui Yang⁴, Yun Sun⁵, Yi Wang⁵, JinHai Ma⁶, Jing Liu⁶, Xin Sun⁷, Huajie Wu⁷, Chunhua Wei⁸, Shuping Zhang⁸, Xiaoluan Li⁹, Shuang Ren⁹, Chuangli Hao¹⁰, Baoqing Sun¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease, National Clinical Research Center of Respiratory Disease, Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Health, First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, 510120, People's Republic of China.
² Department of Pediatrics, Boai Hospital of Zhongshan City, Zhongshan, 528400, People's Republic of China.
³ Gansu Provincial Hospital, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China.
⁴ Gansu Provincial Maternity and Child Care Hospital, Lanzhou, 730000, People's Republic of China.
⁵ Yinchuan Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital, Yinchuan, 750000, People's Republic of China.
⁶ Ningxia Medical University General Hospital, Yinchuan, 750000, People's Republic of China.
⁷ Department of Pediatrics, Xijing Hospital, the Fourth Military Medical University, Xian, 710032, People's Republic of China.
⁸ Weifang Weien Hospital, Weifang, 261000, People's Republic of China.
⁹ The First Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Shijiazhuang, 050000, People's Republic of China.
¹⁰ Department of Respirology, Children's Hospital, Soochow University, Suzhou, 215025, People's Republic of China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: Up to now, epidemiological studies on allergy rhinitis (AR) have primarily focused on determining the risk of disease in Chinese adults, with the majority of them designed by single centers, while cross-sectional and epidemiological data describing allergic sensitization in children with self-reported AR are scarce.

Objective: This study was estimating of the latest information about the sensitization patterns and risk factors of clinical AR to develop effective strategies for the prevention and treatment of AR.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey between January 2020 and June 2021 involving children from seven cities in China who reported AR. A total of 762 children participated in this survey. To evaluate the risk factors and specific sensitization patterns of clinical AR through questionnaires and specific immunoglobulin E to 11 aeroallergens.

Results: Of the 762 patients, 593 (77.8%) had at least one positive IgE level. Aged 7-14 years (OR 1.503, (95% CI 1.058-2.136), P = 0.023); With allergic conjunctivitis (OR 1.843, (95% CI 1.297-2.620), P = 0.001) and living in the Eastern (OR 1.802, (95% CI 1.263-2.573), P = 0.001) all elevated the risk of clinical AR associated with aeroallergens. The sensitization rates of D. pteronyssinus and D. farinae were higher than those of other allergens in the 0-6 and 7-14 years old age groups. The most common aeroallergens among self-reported children with AR in the eastern were D. farinae (74.9%) and D. pteronyssinus (74.3%), while in the western were mugwort (60.0%) and marguerite (56.6%). Majority of sIgE-positive subjects were sensitized to three or more of the tested pollen allergens in the Western (52.1%), compared with 5.7% in the Eastern.

Conclusion: There was an apparent geographic variation in childhood allergies in China. Age factors also had strong impacts on the allergen sensitization rate of children, but these impacts differed across regions.

Keywords: aeroallergen; allergic rhinitis; children; cross-sectional survey; specific immunoglobulin E.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81802076 and 81871736), SKLRD (MS-201906, Z-202209), Guangzhou Science and Technology Project of traditional Chinese Medicine and Integrated traditional Chinese and Western Medicine (20202A011017),and the Guangzhou Science and Technology Foundation (202102010327). Thanks to the Biobank for Respiratory Diseases at the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease (BRD-NCRCRD, Guangzhou, Southern China).