title: Prevalence of asthma and its association with rhinitis in the elderly.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Asthma and rhinitis are frequent respiratory diseases in children and adults. Despite the increase in the aging population, there are few epidemiologic data on both diseases in the elderly. So far, no population-based study has analyzed the association between asthma and rhinitis symptoms and severity in this age group. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma in the population aged ≥65 years in mainland Portugal and to evaluate its association with the presence and classification of rhinitis according to ARIA recommendations, in this age group.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, nationwide, population-based survey of individuals aged ≥65 years, living in mainland Portugal was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data were obtained from 3678 respondents. The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma was 10.9% (95% confidence interval (95%CI) 9.9-11.9). The frequency of asthma diagnosis increased with the number of nasal symptoms (p < 0.001). A strong association between asthma and rhinitis was found (odds ratio (OR) 13.86 (95%CI 10.66-18.02)). The strength of this association increased with the persistence and severity of rhinitis, being particularly high in elderly subjects with moderate-severe persistent rhinitis (OR 39.9 (95%CI 27.5-58.0)).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Asthma is common in the elderly and strongly associated with rhinitis. The OR for asthma is especially high in persistent and severe ARIA classification rhinitis types. This study strengthens the need for an integrated assessment of asthma together with rhinitis in the elderly.
authors.affiliation: Hospital CUF-Descobertas and Hospital CUF-Infante Santo, Immunoallergy Department, Lisbon, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Alergologia e Imunologia Clínica (SPAIC), Portugal; CEDOC, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Pharmacology Department, Lisbon, Portugal. Electronic address: helenampite@gmail.com.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pite
authors.affiliation: Hospital CUF-Descobertas and Hospital CUF-Infante Santo, Immunoallergy Department, Lisbon, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Alergologia e Imunologia Clínica (SPAIC), Portugal; Hospital S. João EPE, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Porto, Portugal; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Health Information and Decision Sciences Department, Porto, Portugal; Instituto e Hospital CUF Porto, Allergy Unit, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.affiliation: Hospital CUF-Descobertas and Hospital CUF-Infante Santo, Immunoallergy Department, Lisbon, Portugal; Sociedade Portuguesa de Alergologia e Imunologia Clínica (SPAIC), Portugal; CINTESIS - Center for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morais-Almeida
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Portuguesa de Alergologia e Imunologia Clínica (SPAIC), Portugal; Centro de Imunoalergologia do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nunes
authors.affiliation: Department of Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, University Hospital and INSERM, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bousquet
authors.affiliation: Sociedade Portuguesa de Alergologia e Imunologia Clínica (SPAIC), Portugal; Hospital S. João EPE, Allergy and Clinical Immunology Department, Porto, Portugal; Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Health Information and Decision Sciences Department, Porto, Portugal; Instituto e Hospital CUF Porto, Allergy Unit, Porto, Portugal; CINTESIS - Center for Research in Health Technologies and Information Systems, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Fonseca
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D012423:Rural Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014504:Urban Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Asthma; Elderly; Epidemiology; Prevalence; Rhinitis; Rhinoconjunctivitis