Age at symptom onset and distribution by sex and symptoms in patients sensitized to different allergens

The aim of our study was to analyze the clinical features, particularly the age at symptom onset, of allergic subjects (asthma and/or rhinitis) on the basis of the etiologic elements (sensitization to various allergens). We identified a group of monosensitized patients and a group of polysensitized patients. Within these groups, we identified subgroups of subjects monosensitized to one of the five main allergenic mixes (mites, Gramineae, trees, Parietaria, and Artemisia) and five subgroups of patients sensitized nonexclusively, that is, polysensitized, to the same allergens. The comparison between the two groups and among the various subgroups enabled us to conclude that: 1) mono- and polysensitized patients present some clinical features so different as to constitute two clearly distinct clinical groups 2) analysis of the clinical features associated with the sensitization to a specific allergen brings us to significantly different conclusions when we consider subgroups of monosensitized or polysensitized patients 3) the parameter 'age at symptom onset' shows great heterogeneity among both the mono- and the polysensitized subgroups - in particular, the great differences in mean age among the monosensitized subgroups (trees>Artemisia>Parietaria>Gramineae>mites) appear very interesting and are open to various interpretative hypotheses 4) unlike the polysensitized group, in the monosensitized group and subgroups, mean age is similar between men and women and, only for tree- and Parietaria-monosensitive patients, also between asthmatic and rhinitic subjects.