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

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), = 0.023); With allergic conjunctivitis (OR 1.843, (95% CI 1.297-2.620), = 0.001) and living in the Eastern (OR 1.802, (95% CI 1.263-2.573), = 0.001) all elevated the risk of clinical AR associated with aeroallergens. The sensitization rates of and 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 (74.9%) and (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.