title: Does an allergy skin test on school-children predict respiratory symptoms in adulthood?
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is interesting from the correct point of preventive health care whether allergy skin tests at entry have the positive relationship with common respiratory symptoms such as persistent cough, persistent phlegm and wheeze with colds at end point in longitudinal studies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study is to investigate this relationship in subjects followed from when they were school-children until they were young adults.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young adults aged 18-31 years who had participated in an allergy skin test and a health survey for common respiratory symptoms during primary and junior high school were asked about their respiratory symptoms at the end-point in the follow-up study. Three cohort groups were employed in the follow-up study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to a multiple logistic analysis with adjustments made for sex, symptoms at entry in childhood, and age and smoking habits at the end-point, young adults with a positive skin test to an extract of house dust as school-children showed a higher prevalence of wheeze with colds compared with those with a negative skin test. However, this relationship was not found for persistent cough or persistent phlegm, indeed, the latter symptom was significantly associated with negative skin tests in one cohort group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The respective symptoms at entry in childhood were also predictors of their occurrence in young adults. The results show that the common respiratory symptoms such as persistent phlegm and wheeze with colds in childhood are related to those in young adults rather than is an allergy skin test to an extract of house dust in childhood.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Medicine, Toyama Medical and Pharmaceutical University, Japan.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kagamimori
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Naruse
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kakiuchi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamagami
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sokejima
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Matsubara
authors.lastname: Bi-Li-Fu
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Katoh
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006967:Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis*; D007564:Japan; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012882:Skin Tests; D012907:Smoking