title: Prevalence and allergen of allergic rhinitis in Korean children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In recent decades, the amount of data about allergic rhinitis (AR) in Korean National Health Insurance Service has increased.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence and quality of sensitized allergens of AR in Korean children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study obtained the results of the Korean International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaires and the skin-prick test (SPT) results of 14,356 students who participated in a health screening from 2010 to 2014. AR was defined as one with current symptoms of AR with at least one or more positive results of an SPT with inhalant allergens.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of AR in children was 20.8%. Positive rates of the allergen group were 87.3% for house-dust mites, 37.0% for pollen, 12.4% for mold, and 8.4% for pets. The common allergens in descending order were Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides farinae, Betula, Humulus, Alnus, and Alternaria. As the children became older, pollen-sensitization rates tended to increase (p value for trends, <0.001). In metropolitan and middle inland areas, weed pollen was the most common pollen. The rates of tree-pollen sensitization were the highest at the seaside and in the southern inland. The most common comorbid allergic diseases associated with AR were pollen allergy and allergic conjunctivitis at 37.0% and 34.5%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This was the first study conducted in Korea to investigate the prevalence of AR in the general population by using both questionnaires and SPTs. The allergens used for the SPTs were chosen based on the common allergens in this study, and this current pollen data will contribute to establish the cause of increasing AR prevalence in Korea.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Dong Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Yoon-Sung
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Hae Ji
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.forename: Jeong Hee
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Dae Hyun
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lim
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D000485:Allergens / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D029662:Betula / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D040001:Dermatophagoides farinae / Q000276:immunology; D040002:Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011058:Pollen / Q000276:immunology; D015995:Prevalence; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012737:Sex Factors
chemical_list: D000485:Allergens