Abstract
AIM: To identify age- and gender-specific prevalence rates for physician-diagnosed asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR) and eczema across a whole lifespan.
METHOD: Presentations of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema were identified in individuals aged 0 to 65 who consulted their general practitioner at least once in 1998-99 from a population sample of 266,733 in Scotland, and in 1991-95 for asthma and allergic rhinitis in 6,836,063 person years at risk in England and Wales.
RESULTS: In both sexes asthma presentations peak at 4-6 years whilst eczema peaks in infancy. A second asthma peak occurs during adolescence, earlier in females, at a time when a female predominance for all three atopic diseases is established. Female predominance of eczema presentations are limited to the reproductive period of 15-49 years.
CONCLUSION: The patterns of presentations for asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema by age and gender suggest important gender-specific differences in disease predisposition and diagnosis.
METHOD: Presentations of asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema were identified in individuals aged 0 to 65 who consulted their general practitioner at least once in 1998-99 from a population sample of 266,733 in Scotland, and in 1991-95 for asthma and allergic rhinitis in 6,836,063 person years at risk in England and Wales.
RESULTS: In both sexes asthma presentations peak at 4-6 years whilst eczema peaks in infancy. A second asthma peak occurs during adolescence, earlier in females, at a time when a female predominance for all three atopic diseases is established. Female predominance of eczema presentations are limited to the reproductive period of 15-49 years.
CONCLUSION: The patterns of presentations for asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema by age and gender suggest important gender-specific differences in disease predisposition and diagnosis.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 28-35 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Primary Care Respiratory Journal |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2007 |
Keywords
- asthma
- eczema
- allergic rhinitis
- sex
- gender
- epidemiology
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Osman, M., Hansell, A. L., Simpson, C. R., Hollowell, J., & Helms, P. J. (2007). Gender-specific presentations for asthma, allergic rhinitis and eczema in primary care. Primary Care Respiratory Journal, 16(1), 28-35. https://doi.org/10.3132/pcrj.2007.00006