Table 2.
Patients’ characteristics
| Characteristic | Whole sample | Allergologists | ENTs | GPs | p-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N = 2823 | N = 909 | N = 606 | N = 1308 | ||
| Age, years | < 0.001 | ||||
| 18–24 | 630 (22.3%) | 249 (27.3%) | 148 (24.4%) | 233 (17.8%) | |
| 25–34 | 622 (22%) | 219 (24%) | 134 (22.1%) | 269 (20.5%) | |
| 35–44 | 650 (23%) | 197 (21.6%) | 139 (22.9%) | 314 (24%) | |
| 45–54 | 503 (17.8%) | 149 (16.3%) | 99 (16.3%) | 255 (19.4%) | |
| > 55 | 412 (15%) | 91 (10%) | 85 (14%) | 236 (18%) | |
| Disease duration, years | 10 [5–19] | 10 [4–15] | 10 [5–20]* | 10 [5–20]* | < 0.001 |
| New diagnosis | 810 (29%) | 327 (36%) | 206 (34%) | 277 (21%) | < 0.001 |
| AR causes | 0.635 | ||||
| Graminaceous pollens | 1450 (51.3%) | 414 (45.5%) | 314 (51.8%) | 722 (55.1%) | |
| Tree pollens | 873 (30.9%) | 249 (27.3%) | 165 (27.2%) | 459 (35%) | |
| Grass pollens | 722 (25.5%) | 250 (27.5%) | 168 (27.7%) | 304 (23.2%) | |
| Dust/dust mites | 1150 (40.7%) | 352 (38.7%) | 304 (50.1%) | 494 (37.7%) | |
| Animal allergens | 459 (16.2%) | 130 (14.3%) | 111 (18.3%) | 218 (16.6%) | |
| Mould | 262 (9.2%) | 64 (7%) | 69 (11.3%) | 129 (9.8%) | |
| Cockroaches | 14 (0.4%) | 5 (0.5%) | 2 (0.3%) | 7 (0.5%) | |
| Other | 5 (0.1%) | 2 (0.2%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (0.2%) | |
| Concomitant asthma treatment | 605 (89.8%) | 238 (88.5%) | 95 (88%) | 272 (91.3%) | 0.242 |
Patients’ data were retrospectively retrieved by the interviewed HCPs. Data are expressed as number of patients (%) ore median [25–75]. Chi squared test was used to investigate differences in the observed frequencies across specialty area. Kruskal–Wallis One Way Analysis of Variance on Ranks, All Pairwise Multiple Comparison Procedures (Dunn’s method): p < 0.05: * vs allergologists