Prevalence of Atopy and Respiratory Allergic Diseases in the Elderly SAPALDIA Population

Background: Because of changing world demographics, the elderly population is steadily increasing. Few studies have assessed the prevalence of atopy and allergic diseases in elderly persons with objective measures. The aim of this paper is to describe the prevalence of atopy, self-reported allergic rhinitis and doctor’s diagnosed asthma in persons over the age of 60 in Switzerland. Methods: The cross-sectional examination of the Swiss Study on Air Pollution and Health in Adults (SAPALDIA 1), performed in 1991, included 9,651 adults aged 18–60 years. In 2001–2002 the same subjects were invited for a follow-up examination (SAPALDIA 2). Serum samples collected at baseline and follow-up were tested for specific IgE sensitization with the Phadiatop ® (Phadia, Uppsala, Sweden, now Thermo Fisher Scientific) assay containing a mixture of common respiratory allergens (grass, Received: January 9, 2013 Accepted after revision: April 12, 2013 Published online: July 31, 2013 Correspondence to: Prof. Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier Allergy Unit, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Gloriastrasse 31 CH–8091 Zürich (Switzerland) E-Mail peter.schmid @ usz.ch © 2013 S. Karger AG, Basel 1018–2438/13/1622–0143$38.00/0 www.karger.com/iaa Th is is an Open Access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC) (www.karger.com/OA-license), applicable to the online version of the article only. Distribution permitted for non-commercial purposes only. D ow nl oa de d by : 54 .7 0. 40 .1 1 11 /1 9/ 20 17 9 :1 7: 07 P M