title: Clinical features of chronic urticaria in aging population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Different clinical features of skin diseases have been addressed between aging patients and non-aging patients. However, data focusing on the clinical features of chronic urticaria (CU) in aging patients especially in the Asian population are still limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics of CU in aging and non-aging patients in the Asian population.
  
  
  METHODS
  Case records of 1622 CU patients attending the Urticaria Clinic, Department of Dermatology, Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Thailand between 2000 and 2013 were retrospectively reviewed. All CU patients older than 60 years were recruited. Twice the number of CU patients who were non-aging were enrolled using a systematic sampling method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 1622 CU patients, 67 (4.1%) were aging patients. From these, 134 non-aging patients with CU were recruited. The majority of patients for both groups were female, with 67.2% and 77.6% of the aging and non-aging groups, respectively. In both groups, the most common cause of CU was chronic spontaneous urticaria. In the aging group, positive autologous serum skin test, anti-thyroid antibodies and antinuclear antibodies were found more commonly than in the non-aging group, without a statistically significant difference. The mean duration of the disease tended to be shorter in the aging group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study showed that CU in aging patients was uncommon (4.1%). Aging patients with CU seemed to have shorter disease duration and higher percentages of autoantibodies than non-aging patients with CU without a statistically significant difference.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Mati
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Chuamanochan
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Kanokvalai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kulthanan
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Papapit
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tuchinda
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Leena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chularojanamontri
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Piyavadee
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nuchkull
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014581:Urticaria / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies