Self-reported food allergy in the elderly – Lifetime prevalence and clinical features in older adults seeking allergy care in Brazil

Description

José Laerte Boechat and thirty-nine colleagues survey food allergy in older Brazilians, a group allergy research usually skips in favor of children. Six hundred thirty-two people aged sixty and over, recruited through their own doctors across all five regions of Brazil, answered a standardized questionnaire about lifetime reactions.

Just under a fifth reported having had an allergic reaction to food at some point, while only about half that share reported an actual medical diagnosis. A smaller fraction described the immediate, repeated pattern that suggests true allergy. Shellfish, milk, and fresh fruits led the culprit list, and hives and gut symptoms were the commonest complaints. The sample skewed female with an average age around seventy. Analysis linked self-reported allergy to several social and clinical characteristics. The authors underline the gap between perceived and diagnosed allergy in old age, and the need for confirmatory testing in this population.

Catalog record

Source: https://europepmc.org/article/MED/PMC13651488