A study of home characteristics in children with allergic rhinitis and asthma.

The prevalence of allergic diseases, especially asthma and allergic rhinitis, has dramatically increased during the last decades. Mite and cockroach, which are the most common allergens in house dust, are the major indoor allergens in asthmatic and allergic rhinitis patients. The aim of this study was to compare the association between age of dwelling and some other home characteristics in asthmatic and allergic rhinitis children, who had positive skin prick test to mite and cockroaches, with allergic patient with negative skin test. Thirty-six asthmatic and allergic rhinitis children with positive skin prick test to mite and cockroach allergens, and 34 allergic rhinitis and asthmatic children with negative skin prick test to these allergens were enrolled in this study. Data on home characteristics, including age of homes, kind of carpeting, floor of home and number of rooms in the building, were collected by telephone questionnaire. The mean age of buildings was higher in the group of children sensitive to mite and cockroach (22.4 +/- 12.9 versus 16.3 +/- 13.9 years), but the difference was not significant. However, when patients sensitive to mite only were compared to control patients, the difference was significant (P = 0.025). There was no significant difference in the number of floor, rooms, kind of carpet and other features of building between the case and control group. There was a significant relationship between mite allergy and building age, which could be important for the policy of allergy control in the society. However, further studies are needed to clarify the association between more specific home characteristics and allergy diseases.