Association between prior allergic rhinitis and Parkinson's disease

Introduction

A growing body of evidence suggests that chronic inflammation may be a key contributor to Parkinson's disease (PD) pathogenesis. This study aimed to investigate whether a prior history of allergic rhinitis (AR) is associated with an elevated risk of developing PD by utilizing Taiwan's nationwide health insurance claims database.

Methods

We retrieved data for this case-control study from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2010. This study included 16,611 individuals aged ≥50 years old who received a first-time diagnosis of PD as cases and 49,833 propensity-score-matching controls. To evaluate the association between prior AR and PD, multivariable logistic regression models were employed to calculate adjusted odds ratios (ORs) along with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs).

Results

In unadjusted analysis, we found that prior AR was significantly more prevalent among patients with PD than among controls (26.55 % vs. 20.72 %, OR = 1.38, 95 % CI: 1.33–1.44, p < 0.001). This association remained statistically significant and similar in magnitude in the multivariable model after adjustment for age, sex, monthly income, geographic region, level of urbanization, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, hearing loss, and coronary heart disease (OR = 1.40; 95 % CI: 1.34–1.46, p < 0.001).

Discussions

This population-based analysis provides evidence supporting a substantive association between AR and an increased risk of PD. These results suggest that AR should be recognized not only as a widely prevalent inflammatory disorder but also as a potential contributor to neurodegenerative pathophysiology.