TY - JOUR T1 - Allergy and asthma severity JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J VL - 40 IS - Suppl 56 SP - P4102 AU - Svetlana Kamenov AU - Lozana Markovic AU - Borislav Kamenov AU - Aleksandar Kamenov Y1 - 2012/09/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P4102.abstract N2 - Background: Asthma, allergic rhinitis (AR) and atopic dermatitis (AD) are multifactorial illnesses determined by complex interplay between genetic and environmental factors with different phenotype expression. The majority of asthmatics have AR and studies have shown that treatment of AR helps control asthma symptoms. The objective of this study was to evaluate if the presence of AR and/or AD interfere with asthma severity.Methods: We evaluated 1,350 asthmatic children aged 0 – 18 years (median 9 years), attending Health Center Nis. These data were collected by standard protocol and registered in a computer data base. Asthma diagnosis and severity were established by GINA (1995) criteria. Skin prick tests (SPT) were performed with common aeroallergen extracts and tests were considered positive if wheal diameter greater than or equal 3 mm. Data were analyzed by chi square test.Results: Asthma severity was mild in 61.8%, moderate in 28.0% and severe in 10.2%. Male to female ratio was 1.3:1. AR was present in 59% of the patients, AD in 6.2%., and both AR and AD in 2.1%. Regardless asthma severity there was no difference in the frequency of AR and/or AD among asthmatics. SPT was positive to at least one allergen in 78% of patients. The frequency of SPT positivity was 58% in mild asthma and increased to 85% in severe asthma (p< 0,001).Conclusion: Asthma severity was not related to the presence of AR and/or AD in this group of asthmatic children, but there was a relationship in the frequency of positive skin tests according to asthma severity. ER -