Table 6.
Positive rates of allergen in different age groups in the year 2020~2021 (during the COVID-19 pandemic) compared with the year 2018~2019 (before the COVID-19 pandemic)
| Allergen | Children group (1~14 years), n (%) (n = 1,343) |
Youth group (15~44 years), n (%) (n = 3,977) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018~2019 (n = 2,952) | 2020~2021 (n = 3,963) | χ2 | p value | 2018~2019 (n = 2,952) | 2020~2021 (n = 3,963) | χ2 | p value | |
| Inhalant | ||||||||
| D. pteronyssinus | 137 (23.95) | 261 (33.85) | 15.058 | <0.001 | 439 (25.42) | 608 (27.02) | 1.3 | 0.255 |
| D. farinae | 192 (33.57) | 225 (29.18) | 2.947 | 0.086 | 380 (22) | 738 (32.8) | 56.356 | <0.001 |
| Cat epithelium | 11 (1.92) | 30 (3.89) | 4.297 | 0.038 | 49 (2.84) | 128 (5.69) | 18.683 | <0.001 |
| Dog epithelium | 3 (0.52) | 13 (1.69) | 3.764 | 0.052 | 24 (1.39) | 46 (2.04) | 2.422 | 0.12 |
| House dust | 84 (14.69) | 211 (27.37) | 30.811 | <0.001 | 123 (7.12) | 191 (8.49) | 2.51 | 0.113 |
| Cockroach | 7 (1.22) | 6 (0.78) | 0.68 | 0.41 | 78 (4.52) | 69 (3.07) | 5.77 | 0.016 |
| Alternaria | 13 (2.27) | 38 (4.93) | 6.341 | 0.012 | 9 (0.52) | 5 (0.22) | 2.489 | 0.115 |
| Willow | 2 (0.35) | 5 (0.65) | 0.706 | 15 (0.87) | 25 (1.11) | 0.577 | 0.447 | |
| Ragweed | 5 (0.87) | 5 (0.65) | 0.752 | 10 (0.58) | 10 (0.44) | 0.354 | 0.552 | |
| Mugwort | 7 (1.22) | 5 (0.65) | 1.227 | 0.207 | 30 (1.74) | 28 (1.24) | 1.65 | 0.199 |
|
| ||||||||
| Food | ||||||||
| Peanut | 12 (2.1) | 8 (1.04) | 2.516 | 0.113 | 15 (0.87) | 4 (0.18) | 9.806 | 0.002 |
| Soybean | 4 (0.7) | 8 (1.04) | 0.424 | 0.515 | 4 (0.23) | 5 (0.22) | NA* | |
| Milk | 148 (25.87) | 266 (34.5) | 11.46 | 0.001 | 24 (1.39) | 57 (2.53) | 6.405 | 0.011 |
| Crab | 7 (1.22) | 31 (4.02) | 9.344 | 0.002 | 28 (1.62) | 89 (3.96) | 18.645 | <0.001 |
| Shrimp | 5 (0.87) | 14 (1.82) | 2.088 | 0.148 | 17 (0.98) | 22 (0.98) | 0.0 | 0.983 |
| Eggs | 170 (29.72) | 271 (35.15) | 4.388 | 0.036 | 60 (3.47) | 154 (6.84) | 21.797 | <0.001 |
| Beef | 10 (1.75) | 4 (0.52) | 4.812 | 0.028 | 9 (0.52) | 2 (0.09) | 6.618 | 0.01 |
| Cod | 2 (0.35) | 6 (0.78) | 1.019 | 0.313 | 2 (0.12) | 3 (0.13) | 0.622 | |
| Wheat flour | 23 (4.02) | 57 (7.39) | 6.665 | 0.01 | 20 (1.16) | 24 (1.07) | 0.075 | 0.785 |
| Lamb | 0 (0) | 2 (0.26) | 0.511 | 2 (0.12) | 0 (0) | 0.189 | ||
| Allergen | Middle-aged group (45~59 years), n (%) (n = 1,112) |
Elderly group (60~97 years), n (%) (n = 483) |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018~2019 (n = 2,952) | 2020~2021 (n = 3,963) | χ2 | p value | 2018~2019 (n = 2,952) | 2020~2021 (n = 3,963) | χ2 | p value | |
| Inhalant | ||||||||
| D. pteronyssinus | 71 (14.61) | 70 (11.18) | 2.902 | 0.088 | 7 (4.19) | 24 (7.59) | 2.107 | 0.147 |
| D. farinae | 51 (10.49) | 115 (18.37) | 13.366 | <0.001 | 11 (6.59) | 52 (16.46) | 9.382 | 0.002 |
| Cat epithelium | 3 (0.62) | 12 (1.92) | 3.473 | 0.062 | 1 (0.6) | 3 (0.95) | 0.57 | |
| Dog epithelium | 1 (0.21) | 5 (0.8) | 0.24 | 1 (0.6) | 2 (0.63) | 0.724 | ||
| House dust | 12 (2.47) | 13 (2.08) | 0.192 | 0.661 | 4 (2.4) | 7 (2.22) | 0.564 | |
| Cockroach | 20 (4.12) | 18 (2.88) | 1.274 | 0.259 | 3 (1.8) | 7 (2.22) | 0.525 | |
| Alternaria | 6 (1.23) | 1 (0.16) | 0.048 | 1 (0.6) | 0 (0) | 0.346 | ||
| Willow | 5 (1.03) | 2 (0.32) | 0.25 | 1 (0.6) | 1 (0.32) | 0.572 | ||
| Ragweed | 6 (1.23) | 4 (0.64) | 0.523 | 0.469 | 1 (0.6) | 1 (0.32) | 0.572 | |
| Mugwort | 3 (0.62) | 8 (1.28) | 0.638 | 0.424 | 1 (0.6) | 1 (0.32) | 0.572 | |
|
| ||||||||
| Food | ||||||||
| Peanut | 2 (0.41) | 2 (0.32) | NA* | 0 (0) | 2 (0.63) | 0.428 | ||
| Soybean | 2 (0.41) | 0 (0) | 0.191 | 0 (0) | 1 (0.32) | 0.654 | ||
| Milk | 4 (0.82) | 6 (0.96) | NA* | 1 (0.6) | 3 (0.95) | 0.57 | ||
| Crab | 10 (2.06) | 18 (2.88) | 0.745 | 0.388 | 3 (1.8) | 6 (1.9) | 0.62 | |
| Shrimp | 3 (0.62) | 3 (0.48) | NA* | 1 (0.6) | 0 (0) | 0.346 | ||
| Eggs | 6 (1.23) | 17 (2.72) | 2.963 | 0.085 | 1 (0.6) | 7 (2.22) | 0.173 | |
| Beef | 1 (0.21) | 0 (0) | 0.437 | 1 (0.6) | 0 (0) | 0.346 | ||
| Cod | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||||
| Wheat flour | 4 (0.82) | 6 (0.96) | 0.538 | 2 (1.2) | 1 (0.32) | 0.276 | ||
| Lamb | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 1 (0.32) | 0.654 | |||
D. farinae, Dermatophagoides farinae; D. pteronyssinus, Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus.
*
NA, not available: the sample size is too small to meet the applicable conditions of χ2.