The Relationship Between Psychosocial Stress and Allergic Disease Among Children and Adolescents in Gwangyang Bay, Korea

Abstract

ObjectivesStress is considered a causal factor in many diseases, allergic disease being one of them. The prevalence of allergic disease is increasing in Korea, but the relationship between allergic symptoms and stress is not empirically well known. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between allergy-related symptoms and stress in children and adolescents.MethodsWe investigated 698 children and adolescents living in Gwangyang Bay, Korea, using a multi-stage cluster sampling method. Using the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood and the Psychosocial Well-being Index, these subjects were surveyed on allergy-related symptoms and psychosocial stressors in their lives, respectively. We used a multivariate logistic analysis for odds ratios for the complaint rate of allergic symptoms, after adjusting for age, gender, household income, body mass index, and residence.ResultsAfter adjustments, lifetime rhinitis (odds ratio [OR], 1.024), rhinoconjunctivitis (OR, 1.090), diagnosis of itchy eczema (OR, 1.040), treatment of itchy eczema (OR, 1.049), 12-month allergic conjunctivitis (OR, 1.026), diagnosis of allergic conjunctivitis (OR, 1.031), and treatment of allergic conjunctivitis (OR, 1.034) were found to be significantly associated with stress.ConclusionsOur results support the notion that there is a relationship between stress and allergic symptoms in children and adolescents. Further research into any causal relationship between stress and allergies, as well as preventative public health plans for decreasing stress in children and adolescents are needed.

Concealing Emotions at Work Is Associated with Allergic Rhinitis in Korea

“…This was subsequently confirmed in studies with humans, wherein stress was found to be associated with allergic disease (Wainwright et al 2007;Lee et al 2012). Furthermore, the negative psychological effects of AR can influence its progression (Gelis et al 2007), and patients with AR who are exposed to high psychological stress tend to present with more upper respiratory tract infections (Jaber 2002).…”

“…However, the association between concealing emotions and specific diseases has not been extensively studied. Despite evidence that stress can aggravate allergic diseases (Lee et al 2012), to the best of our knowledge, no studies have investigated the association between AR and concealing emotions at work.…”

Nasal diseases and psychological distress

“…Though the psychosomatic aspects of hay fever have been discussed since 1948, the causality of them is still difficult to define (Lee et al, 2012). Also, in current trends, most researchers believe that there is a bidirectional causal relationship between AR and PD (Chida, Hamer, & Steptoe, 2008;Gelis, Prokopakis, Helidonis, & Velegrakis, 2007;Lind, Nordin, Palmquist, & Nordin, 2014).…”

“…*Corresponding author. Email: lwlent@163.com Patients with AR were found to have poorer psychological function compared with non-allergic individuals (Lee et al, 2012;Wu et al, 2011). And this infection varied in different gender (Muluk, Oğuztürk, Koç, & Ekici, 2003;Ryden, Andersson, & Andersson, 2004).…”

Can a better patient phenotyping predict the efficacy of tiotropium in asthmatic adolescents?

“…Furthermore, it is well known that psychosocial stress is very common in adolescents [12] and that this condition is strictly linked to an increased cholinergic tone [13].…”