Children with allergic and nonallergic rhinitis have a similar risk of asthma: 20%

This study included 38 seven-year-old children with allergic rhinitis, 67 with nonallergic rhinitis, and 185 without rhinitis from the Copenhagen Prospective Study on Asthma in Childhood birth cohort. They were compared for prevalence of asthma, eczema, food sensitization, filaggrin null-mutations, total IgE, blood eosinophil count, fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), lung function, and bronchial responsiveness.

Children with allergic rhinitis compared with asymptomatic controls had increased prevalence of:

- asthma (21% vs 5%),
- food sensitization (47% vs 13%)
- eczema (66% vs 43%)
- increased total IgE (155 kU/L vs 41 kU/L)
- blood eosinophil count (0.46 x 10(9)/L vs 0.30 x 10(9)/L)
- FeNO (15.9 ppb vs 6.6 ppb)
- bronchial hyperresponsiveness (23% vs 9%)

Children with nonallergic rhinitis also had increased asthma prevalence (20% vs 5%) but showed no association with eczema, food sensitization, total IgE, blood eosinophil count, FeNO, or bronchial responsiveness.

The study authors concluded that asthma is similarly associated with allergic and nonallergic rhinitis, suggesting a link between upper and lower airways beyond allergy-associated inflammation.



Modified Asthma Predictive Index (API) (click to enlarge the image).

References:

Children with allergic and nonallergic rhinitis have a similar risk of asthma. Chawes BL, Bønnelykke K, Kreiner-Møller E, Bisgaard H. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2010 Sep;126(3):567-573.e8.

Poor asthma control? – then look up the nose. The importance of co-morbid rhinitis in patients with asthma http://goo.gl/0nNZg

Nonallergic rhinitis, CCJM 2012 review.