한국 소아와 청소년의 비염 유병률에 관한 역학적 연구

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Background: Allergic rhinitis and asthma are the most prevalent allergic diseases and a num- ber of studies have shown an increase in prevalence of both diseases all over the world in recent years. Although we reported the asthma prevalence in Korea, little is known about the prevalence of rhinitis in Korea. Objective: The purpose of this study was to elucidate the prevalence of childhood rhinitis including allergic and non-atopic rhinitis in Korea. Methods: We performed questionnaire survey and allergy skin prick test with 10 common inhalant allergens among 3,219 subjects aged 7-19 years in Seoul and Chungju. Subjects were asked whether they were troubled by sneezing, runny nose, itchy nose and/or nasal blockage in the last year, which were not related to common cold. Rhinitis was diagnosed when the subjects complained of 3 or more symptoms on questionnaire. Skin-prick test was regarded as positive when the wheal caused by allergen was same or larger than that caused by histamine. Results: The average prevalence of rhinitis was 13.0%. We could not find any significant age or sex differences in the prevalence of rhinitis. There was no regional difference between Seoul (12.7%) and Chungju (13.2%). The positive rate of skin prick test in subjects with rhinitis was 59.6%, which means the prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 7.8% and that of non-atopic rhinitis was 5.2%. The common allergens of allergic rhinitis were Dermatophagoides farinae (62.5%), Dematophagoides pteronyssinus (55.8%), cat fur (46.9%), cockroach (18.9%) and mugwort pollens (10.1%). Conclusion: The prevalence of childhood rhinitis in Korea was 13.0% and those of allergic rhinitis and non-atopic rhinitis was 7.8% and 5.2%, respectively.