Assessment of pollen allergy prevalence and exposure pattern in relation to aerobiological data: Cross-sectional study in Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Pakistan

Abstract

Pollen allergy is a prevalent clinical concern. In Rawalpindi/Islamabad, the information about the association between pollen exposure and clinical manifestations is limited. Therefore, this research investigates the factors influencing clinical pollen allergy sensitizations among 400 consented patients at the Allergy Center. Questionnaire-based data were assessed for sociodemographic and clinical factors by descriptive statistics and the Chi-square test at a 0.05 significance level. The participants were 41.8% males and 58.3% females. Frequencies of asthma, atopic history, and food allergy were 53.5%, 45.4%, and 30.3%, respectively. Non-smokers (95%) and non-drug addicts (99%) were more prevalent and had significant associations with each other and with food allergies (p value < 0.05). Self-reported pollen allergy cases were 57%. Pollen concentration was high in March, April, and August. Allergy symptoms were frequently reported by patients during March (34.0%) and April (29.6%). Seasonal pollen exposure was significantly related (p value < 0.05) to clinically reported symptom severity during spring and the whole year. The most experienced symptoms were sneezing, itchy eyes, running nose, cough, and breathing difficulty. The nasal (62.5%, p value < 0.001), respiratory (59%, p value < 0.05), and ocular symptoms (41%, p value < 0.001) were significantly more reported than skin (27.8%, p value 0.33) manifestations. Skin prick test (SPT) was received by 95.3% of patients for allergy diagnosis, compared to the IgE blood test (20.8%). Grass (41%) and Pine (48%) pollen were predominantly self-reported for pollen allergy sensitization. These findings highlighted the interlinked nature of allergy-causing variables, including pollen concentration, and need to be addressed to reduce the public health burden.