Clinical and Translational Allergy volume 7 , Article number: 44 Cite this article. Metrics details. Allergic rhinitis and asthma as single entities affect more boys than girls in childhood but more females in adulthood. However, it is unclear if this prevalence sex-shift also occurs in allergic rhinitis and concurrent asthma. Thus, our aim was to compare sex-specific differences in the prevalence of coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.
Post-hoc analysis of systematic review with meta-analysis concerning sex-specific prevalence of allergic rhinitis. We included population-based observational studies, reporting coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma as outcome stratified by sex.
We excluded non-original or non-population-based studies, studies with only male or female participants or selective patient collectives. From a total of citations, 10 studies with a total of 93, participants met the inclusion criteria. Male—female ratios for allergic rhinitis only were 1.
The prevalence of coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma shows a clear male predominance in childhood and seems to switch to a female predominance in adolescents. This switch was less pronounced for allergic rhinitis only. Increasing prevalence in allergic diseases has been observed in many countries, especially in Western but also many developing countries [ 1 ].
Sex specific differences in prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma over the life span were recognized, showing a higher prevalence of allergic rhinitis and asthma as single entities in boys than in girls during childhood followed by an equal distribution in adolescence [ 2 , 3 ]. In adulthood more women than men are affected by asthma [ 4 , 5 ]. In a prospective cohort study, the prevalence of coexisting eczema, allergic rhinitis, and asthma in the same child was more common than expected by chance alone and was not only attributable to IgE sensitization, suggesting that these diseases share causal mechanisms [ 6 ].
