PMID- 17302220
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20070312
LR  - 20081216
IS  - 2072-0939 (Print)
IS  - 2072-0939 (Linking)
VI  - 29
IP  - 6
DP  - 2006 Nov-Dec
TI  - Survey of asthmatic patients' sensitization to house dust mites in southwestern 
      Taiwan.
PG  - 568-75
AB  - BACKGROUND: House dust mites (HDM) are one of the major risk factors for the 
      development of bronchial asthma. The percentage of sensitization to HDM was 
      reported to be 71.9% in Taipei City. In southwestern Taiwan, the percentage of 
      sensitization to HDM has not been estimated. We retrospectively reviewed the 
      medical records of asthmatic patients treated at the Chiayi branch of Chang Gung 
      Memorial Hospital to investigate the percentage and associations with demographic 
      characteristics. METHODS: We analyzed the data of 194 asthmatic patients 
      diagnosed between January 2003 and July 2005. Sensitization to indoor allergens 
      was identified by serum specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) of ImmunoCAP. Demographic 
      characteristics of age, gender and residence were evaluated for associations with 
      allergic sensitization. RESULTS: The percentage of sensitization to HDM was only 
      45.9% in patients in southwestern Taiwan. The majority of the studied group were 
      elderly patients. The age variable significantly influenced the percentage of 
      sensitization to HDM and cockroaches (p < 0.001 in both comparisons). The gender 
      variable contributed to sensitization to cockroaches only (p = 0.002). For 
      residential variables, there was no significant difference in the percentage of 
      allergic sensitization to all tested indoor allergens among distinct areas of 
      southwestern Taiwan. CONCLUSION: The percentage of sensitization to HDM in 
      asthmatic patients residing in southwestern Taiwan was lower than that in 
      metropolitan patients. This discrepancy might be attributed to the larger 
      proportion of aged patients.
FAU - Lin, Chin-Kuo
AU  - Lin CK
AD  - Department of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, 
      Chiayi, Taiwan, R.O.C.
FAU - Hung, Ming-Szu
AU  - Hung MS
FAU - Fang, Cheng-Pei
AU  - Fang CP
FAU - Shen, Tzu-Yi
AU  - Shen TY
FAU - Hsiao, Shih-Hsin
AU  - Hsiao SH
FAU - Huang, Tung-Jung
AU  - Huang TJ
FAU - Yang, Cheng-Ta
AU  - Yang CT
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - China (Republic : 1949- )
TA  - Chang Gung Med J
JT  - Chang Gung medical journal
JID - 101088034
SB  - IM
MH  - Adult
MH  - Age Factors
MH  - Aged
MH  - Animals
MH  - Asthma/*immunology
MH  - Female
MH  - Humans
MH  - Hypersensitivity/*epidemiology
MH  - Male
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Pyroglyphidae/*immunology
MH  - Retrospective Studies
MH  - Sex Factors
MH  - Taiwan/epidemiology
EDAT- 2007/02/17 09:00
MHDA- 2007/03/14 09:00
CRDT- 2007/02/17 09:00
PHST- 2007/02/17 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2007/03/14 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2007/02/17 09:00 [entrez]
AID - 2906/290605 [pii]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Chang Gung Med J. 2006 Nov-Dec;29(6):568-75.