RESULTS
Cat sensitization was detected by skin prick testing in 182 children
with asthma and/or allergic rhinitis. All these patients had been under
medical treatment and follow-up in our pediatric allergy and immunology
clinic for at least three months, and all were requested to participate
in the study. However, 11 declined and 41 were excluded due to meeting
the exclusion criteria. Ninety-six age and sex-matched children were
randomly selected for the healthy control group. However, seven declined
to participate, three were unable to cooperate with the pulmonary
function tests, and 16 were excluded due to passive smoking exposure.
The study flowchart is shown in Figure 1.
A comparison of demographic and clinical data between the children with
respiratory allergic diseases and the HC group is presented in Table 1.
No differences were determined between the groups in terms of the
demographic characteristics of sex or age, or weight, height, and BMI z
scores (p>0.05).
The median enduration size was 5.5 mm (range 4.5mm to 6.12 mm) at skin
prick testing with a standardized cat allergen solution. Only 9.23%
(n=12) of the CS group experienced domestic cat exposure in the home.
When atopy status was evaluated, 91.53% (n=119) of those were
polysensitized, and pollen allergy was the most frequent allergen
accompanying cat sensitization. Eosinophilia was detected in 36.92%
(n=48) of the patients.
At IOS analysis, zR5, R5-20, Fres, and AX levels were higher and zX5 and
zX20 lower in children with respiratory allergic disease compared to the
healthy controls (p=0.029, p=0.008, p=0.001, p<0.001, p=0.001,
and p<0.001, respectively). A comparison of IOS parameters
between the children with respiratory allergic disease and controls is
shown in Table 2 and Figure 2.
A comparison of the IOS and spirometry values of groups I, II, and III
is shown in Table 3. No differences were determined between those groups
in terms of the demographic characteristics of sex and age, weight,
height and BMI z-scores (p>0.05). Analysis of the IOS and
spirometry parameters revealed no significant difference was found among
the three groups (p>0.05).
A comparison of IOS parameters according to cat exposure is shown in
Table 4. No difference was observed in terms of IOS parameters or
spirometric values between the Do+ and Do- groups
(p>0.005).
A comparison of IOS parameters according to age groups is given in Table
5. In terms of airway resistance, R5-20 was higher in preschool age
compared to the older age group (p<0.001). In terms of airway
reactance, zX20 was lower, Fres and AX were higher in the pre-school age
group, than in the older age group (p<0.001).
No difference in terms of IOS parameters was observed between the step 2
and step 3-4 treatment groups (p>0.05). No correlation was
found between zFEV1, zFVC, zFEV1/FVC, zFEF25-75, and any IOS parameter
in the CS group (p>0.05). Similarly, no strong correlation
was detected between IOS and spirometry values, according to gender,
treatment step of asthma, allergic respiratory disease subgroups, and
cat exposure. However a moderate positive correlation between zFEV1 and
zR20 in girls (r=0.428, p=0.016), and a moderate negative correlation
between zFEV1/FVC and AX in asthma patients (r=-653, p=0.11) were
detected.