TY - JOUR
T1 - Different psychosocial factors are associated with seasonal and perennial allergies in adults
T2 - Cross-sectional results of the KORA FF4 study
AU - Harter, Katharina
AU - Hammel, Gertrud
AU - Krabiell, Lisa
AU - Linkohr, Birgit
AU - Peters, Annette
AU - Schwettmann, Lars
AU - Ring, Johannes
AU - Johar, Hamimatunnisa
AU - Ladwig, Karl-Heinz
AU - Traidl-Hoffmann, Claudia
N1 - Funding Information:
The KORA study was initiated and financed by the Helmholtz Zentrum München – German Research Center for Environmental Health, which is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the State of Bavaria. Furthermore, KORA research was supported within the Munich Center of Health Sciences (MC-Health), Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, as part of LMUinnovativ.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 S. Karger AG, Basel. All rights reserved.
PY - 2019/8
Y1 - 2019/8
N2 - Background: Psychosocial factors are supposed to play a central role in the development of allergic diseases. Associations with seasonal and perennial forms of allergies have not been investigated, yet. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the associations of psychosocial factors (social status, depression, generalized anxiety, psychosocial stress, Type-D personality) with seasonal, perennial, and other forms of allergies in adults. Method: The analysis of self-reported data of the KORA FF4 study was performed with SAS 9.4. The sample consisted of 1,782 study participants in the study region of Augsburg (39-88 years, 61 years, 51.1% female). Descriptive bivariate statistics and multinomial logistic regression models were performed. Age, sex, family predisposition, and smoking status were considered possible confounders. Moreover, several sensitivity analyses were carried out to check whether missing values distorted the results. Results: A positive association between generalized anxiety and seasonal allergies was found in the multivariate model. Depression was positively, and anxiety negatively, associated with perennial allergies. No association between the analyzed psychosocial factors and other forms of allergies could be found. Conclusion: The results support the relevance of psychosocial factors in association with allergies. Looking at the psychosocial factors, a separate consideration of seasonal and perennial allergies seems reasonable. Further longitudinal studies should investigate the direction of the associations, the underlying mechanisms, and other psychosocial factors, such as coping mechanisms, in confirmed allergies.
AB - Background: Psychosocial factors are supposed to play a central role in the development of allergic diseases. Associations with seasonal and perennial forms of allergies have not been investigated, yet. Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the associations of psychosocial factors (social status, depression, generalized anxiety, psychosocial stress, Type-D personality) with seasonal, perennial, and other forms of allergies in adults. Method: The analysis of self-reported data of the KORA FF4 study was performed with SAS 9.4. The sample consisted of 1,782 study participants in the study region of Augsburg (39-88 years, 61 years, 51.1% female). Descriptive bivariate statistics and multinomial logistic regression models were performed. Age, sex, family predisposition, and smoking status were considered possible confounders. Moreover, several sensitivity analyses were carried out to check whether missing values distorted the results. Results: A positive association between generalized anxiety and seasonal allergies was found in the multivariate model. Depression was positively, and anxiety negatively, associated with perennial allergies. No association between the analyzed psychosocial factors and other forms of allergies could be found. Conclusion: The results support the relevance of psychosocial factors in association with allergies. Looking at the psychosocial factors, a separate consideration of seasonal and perennial allergies seems reasonable. Further longitudinal studies should investigate the direction of the associations, the underlying mechanisms, and other psychosocial factors, such as coping mechanisms, in confirmed allergies.
KW - Allergy
KW - Mental health
KW - Personality
KW - Psychosocial stress
KW - Social status
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85064965017&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1159/000499042
DO - 10.1159/000499042
M3 - Article
C2 - 31018198
AN - SCOPUS:85064965017
VL - 179
SP - 262
EP - 272
JO - International Archives of Allergy and Immunology
JF - International Archives of Allergy and Immunology
SN - 1018-2438
IS - 4
ER -