Clinical response to varying pollen exposure in allergic rhinitis in children in The Netherlands

Background Allergic rhinitis (AR) affects 10–15% of children. Symptoms in seasonal AR are influenced by pollen exposure. Pollen counts vary throughout the pollen season and therefore, symptom severity fluctuates. This study investigates the correlation between pollen concentration and symptom load i...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:BMC pediatrics Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 258 - 8
Main Authors: Tameeris, Ellen, Bohnen, Arthur M., Bindels, Patrick J. E., Elshout, Gijs
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: London BioMed Central 24.05.2023
BioMed Central Ltd
Springer Nature B.V
BMC
Subjects:
Allergic Rhinitis
Care and treatment
Child
Children
Diagnosis
Hay fever
Health aspects
Humans
Internal Medicine
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Netherlands
Pediatrics
Pollen
Pollen counts
Pollen season definition
Rhinitis
Rhinitis, Allergic - diagnosis
Seasons
Steroids
Symptom variation
Teenagers
Netherlands
Allergic Rhinitis
Pollen season definition
Children
Symptom variation
Pollen counts
ISSN:1471-2431, 1471-2431
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Background Allergic rhinitis (AR) affects 10–15% of children. Symptoms in seasonal AR are influenced by pollen exposure. Pollen counts vary throughout the pollen season and therefore, symptom severity fluctuates. This study investigates the correlation between pollen concentration and symptom load in children with AR in The Netherlands. Methods A secondary analysis was performed in a study determining the most effective treatment for children with seasonal AR. Symptoms were measured during three months in 2013 and 2014 using a daily symptom diary. The pollen concentration was measured with a Hirst type volumetric spore trap sampler. A correlation coefficient was calculated for the correlation between the pollen concentration and the mean daily symptom score. The study protocol was approved by the medical ethical review committee of the Erasmus MC and is incorporated in the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (EUCTR2012-001,591–11-NL). Results In 2014, the correlation coefficient for birch pollen concentration and symptom score was 0.423 ( p  = 0.000). The correlation coefficient for grass pollen concentration and symptom score was 0.413 ( p  = 0.000) and 0.655 ( p  = 0.000) in 2013 and 2014, respectively. A delayed correlation between the birch pollen concentration and the symptom scores was seen up to two days after the pollen measurement (0.151, p  = 0.031). For grass pollen this effect lasted up to three days after the pollen measurement (0.194, p  = 0.000). Conclusion We found comparable correlations between symptom score and pollen concentration as found by EAACI. Birch and grass pollen have an elongated influence on symptom score of several days. This implies patients need to continue on demand medication longer after a measured pollen peak.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
content type line 23
ISSN:1471-2431
1471-2431
DOI:10.1186/s12887-023-04021-1