ObjectiveTo study the average time elapsed in patients diagnosed of fruit and nut allergy, who previously presented allergy to pollen with rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms and/or asthma. To describe possible influencing factors during the said average time.
Material and methodsThis is a retrospective study conducted with the information collected from 90 patients allergic to fruit or nut for a period of ten months. The following data were collected: sex, age, pollen allergy type and clinical form, type of allergy to fruit and nut and its clinical manifestation and whether latex sensitization was present or not. The analysis was performed using the SPSS 17.0 statistical package. Descriptive and analysis survival techniques have also been used.
ResultsPatients' age ranged from 12 to 65, 58 were women and 32 men. In the patients studied the average time elapsed from pollen allergy diagnosis to the presentation of fruit and nut allergy symptoms were 4.38 years. Average time for women was 4.62 years and 9.36 months less for men. For those who previously presented rhinoconjunctivitis, average time was 2.69 years and those with asthma or both 5 years. For patients allergic to chenopodiaceas average time was 4.72 years, for those allergic to olive pollen it was 4.05 and for gramineae allergic patients 4.52 years. No significant differences were found with respect to the four fruit groups studied using descriptive techniques.
ConclusionsIn patients with fruit and nut allergy, average latency time from pollen allergy diagnosis is 4.38 years. When comparing average time for patients with rhinoconjunctivitis to that for patients with asthma or both conditions, average time is lower in the first group, with 95% confidence level (2.7 years vs 5 years).
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.