TY - JOUR T1 - Food allergy as a risk factor for habitual snoring JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 38 IS - Suppl 55 SP - p976 AU - Camilla Celani AU - Giovanni Ragusa AU - Enea Bonci AU - Maria Palma Carbone AU - Serena Caggiano AU - Anna Maria Zicari AU - Giovanna De Castro AU - Marzia Duse Y1 - 2011/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/38/Suppl_55/p976.abstract N2 - Background: It has been suggested that habitual snoring (HS) has adverse health outcomes in children and it's an important indicator of many clinical conditions such as atopy, cough and rhinitis.Aim of the study: To determine the prevalence of HS in a cohort of children with food allergy (FA) and its association with atopic state, and other clinical symptoms such as cough, and rhinitis.Methods: Seventy-four children (mean age 11.0±2.0 years; 36 males) with an history of FA were selected. Atopic status was determined by a SPT to a panel of principal aeroallergens and food allergens. Parents-administreted questionnaires were used to collected information on children's snoring and possible symptoms associated. HS was defined as snoring three or more times per week.Results: In our experience, children with FA show an higher prevalence of HS compared to Italian age-matched population (respectively 23% vs 4.9%; p <0.001) (Brunetti et al. Chest 2001, 120, 1930-1935). Furthermore among HS, children with associate food and aeroallergen allergy are 27.7% while children with food allergy are 14.8%; the difference was statistically significant (p<0.01). Snoring children show an higher prevalence of productive cough, dry cough and rhinitis compared to not snoring (respectively 47% vs 18.2 p<0.05; 47.1% vs 21.2% p<0.04 and 76.5% vs 57.6%; p=0.07).Conclusions: We found an high prevalence of habitual snoring among children with food allergy; prevalence increases further in the group with aeroallergen allergy too. Moreover, the presence of the symptom “snoring” should be looked for and stressed in children with allergic respiratory diseases because it is often associated and underreported, but significantly worses the quality of life. ER -