Allergic symptoms in a large group of young students

Background: The aim of the study is to evaluate the incidence of referred allergic symptoms in a population of young people living in Tuscany, Italy. Method: We enrolled 1038 students (439 males and 599 females) of professional schools (catering, dental technicians, dietitians, obstetrics and laboratory technicians schools): 188 (107 males and 81 females) people out of them were younger than 16 years (Group I), 331 (165 males and 166 females) were 16-18 years old (Group II), 213 (69 males and 213 females) were 18-21 years old (Group III) and 306 (98 males and 208 females) were older than 21 years (Group IV). Two questionnaires were administered by resident physicians: the first to investigate respiratory issues (with our items and other items from ECRHS I/II and ISAAC questionnaires), the other one to investigate dermatological issues (the Italian version of the NOSQ questionnaire). Statistical analysis was done using open source software. Result: In the whole population the incidence of positive cases was 24.6% (males 25.9%, females 23.5%) for oculorhinitis; 15.1% (males 17.1%, females 13.7%) for asthma; 12.9% (males 12.5%, females 13,2%) for hand dermatitis and 13.0% for urticaria (males 12,3%, females 13.5%). The incidences in groups, from I to IV, were respectively: 26.6%, 25,0%, 26.3%, 21.6% for oculorhinitis; 17.0%, 17.5%, 18.3%, 9.2% for asthma (p<.05); 13.3%, 12.4%, 16.0%, 11.1% for hand dermatitis and 16.0%, 14.5%, 10.8%, 11.1% for urticaria (p<.05). In the first group the prevalence of hand eczema and oculorhinitis was higher in males than in females (p<.05). Conclusion: The prevalence of oculorhinitis seems to be stable during the growing age. The incidence of hand dermatitis, urticaria and asthma appears to decrease, particularly after the age of 21. Among the youngest population group males have referred a significantly higher incidence of hand eczema and oculorhinitis than females.