Is physician‐diagnosed allergic rhinitis a risk factor for the development of asthma?

• Published in: Allergy (Copenhagen) 2010-08, Vol.65 (8), p.1049-1055
• Main Authors: Van Den Nieuwenhof, L., Schermer, T., Bosch, Y., Bousquet, J., Heijdra, Y., Bor, H., Van Den Bosch, W., Van Weel, C.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; allergic rhinitis; Allergies; Asthma; Asthma - diagnosis; Asthma - epidemiology; Asthma - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Cohort Studies; Dermatology; Family Practice; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Fundamental immunology; Humans; longitudinal; Medical diagnosis; Medical sciences; Non tumoral diseases; Nose; Otorhinolaryngology. Stomatology; primary care; Propensity Score; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - complications; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - diagnosis; Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial - epidemiology; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal - complications; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal - diagnosis; Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal - epidemiology; risk factor; Risk Factors; Sarcoidosis. Granulomatous diseases of unproved etiology. Connective tissue diseases. Elastic tissue diseases. Vasculitis; Upper respiratory tract, upper alimentary tract, paranasal sinuses, salivary glands: diseases, semeiology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0105-4538; 1398-9995
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1398-9995.2009.02316.x

To cite this article: van den Nieuwenhof L, Schermer T, Bosch Y, Bousquet J, Heijdra Y, Bor H, van den Bosch W, van Weel C. Is physician‐diagnosed allergic rhinitis a risk factor for the development of asthma? Allergy 2010; 65: 1049–1055. Background:  There is strong evidence that there is a relationship between allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma, but it is unclear whether there is a causal relation between AR and asthma. The aim of this study was to assess prospectively whether AR is a risk factor for the diagnosis of asthma in a large primary care population. Methods:  We performed a historic cohort study of life‐time morbidity that had been recorded prospectively since 1967 in four general practices. Two groups of subjects were selected: (i) patients with diagnosis of AR, (ii) a control group matched using propensity scores. We assessed the risk of physician‐diagnosed asthma in patients with physician‐diagnosed AR compared to subjects without a diagnosis of AR (controls). Results:  The study population consisted of 6491 subjects (n = 2081 patients with AR). Average study follow‐up was 8.4 years. In patients with AR, the frequency of newly diagnosed asthma was 7.6% (n = 158) compared to 1.6% (n = 70) in controls (P