Association of hay fever with hypertension in the US adult population

Abstract

PURPOSE: Inflammation drives the progression from central obesity to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and hypertension. Whether inflammation caused by allergic diseases such as allergic rhinitis can predispose to hypertension is controversial. Therefore, we studied the association between hay fever and hypertension in the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). METHODS: We analyzed data on 1883 men and 2029 women in NHANES 2005–2006. We included participants aged 20 years or older who had valid data on hay fever and hypertension. RESULTS: 13.5% of the participants had a previous diagnosis of hay fever and 36.2% of them had hypertension. There were ethnic differences in the prevalence of previous hay fever diagnosis (P < 0.001) and hypertension (P < 0.001). Overall, there was no significant association between previous hay fever diagnosis and hypertension. In women aged 20–39, there was an association between previous hay fever diagnosis and hypertension (OR = 2.59, 95% CI = 1.26–5.30, P = 0.013). This association was not diminished after adjustment for age, race and body mass index (OR = 2.74, 95% CI = 1.48–5.06, P = 0.003). After further adjustment for physical activity, alcohol consumption, smoking, liver enzymes, C-reactive protein and IgE level, the association remained significant (OR = 2.72, 95%CI = 1.19–6.22, P = 0.021). CONCLUSIONS: In this nationally representative population-based survey, previous hay fever diagnosis is not significantly associated with hypertension in adults, except for women aged 20–39. Further work is needed to confirm that this is a true association.