Baseline Demographics
There were no significant differences between the mean ages, genders, or
BMI in the subjects with and without allergen-sensitization
(Table 1 ). However, the reported allergic symptoms were clearly
lower in the control group of non-sensitized children than in the
allergen-sensitized group; none of the children in the control group
reported any history of allergic rhinitis as compared with 97% in the
allergen-sensitized group. Other allergic manifestations, such as eczema
or food allergies, were more common in the allergen-sensitized group
(63% vs 11.8% and 65% vs 0%, respectively). In the
allergen-sensitized group, 85% of subjects had a physician’s diagnosis
of asthma, whereas no subjects in the non-sensitized group had asthma.
Accordingly, quality of life scores (ACT, AQLQ) and baseline
FEV1 were lower in the allergen-sensitized group
compared to the control group.