Original article

UDC: 616.248-055.26
  DOI: 10.5937/afmnai38-29256

Original article

Prevalence of Asthma and Other Allergic Diseases
in Pregnant Women

Nasrin Fazel^1,2, Asghar Kazemzadeh³, Mojtaba Fattahi Abdizadeh³, Erika Jensem-Jarolim⁴, Shohreh Shahrouyan⁵, Sina Shahrooyan⁶

¹Iranian Research Center on Healthy Aging, Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing,
School of Nursing and Midwifery, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran
²Ph.D. student Center for Public Health, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
³Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran
⁴Institute for Pathophysiology and Allergy Research, Medical University Vienna, Vienna, Austria
⁵Msc in English, Hakim University Sabzevar, Iran
⁶Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry named after A.I. Evdokimov, Moscow, Russia

SUMMARY
           

                 Asthma and allergic disorders can affect the outcome of pregnancy. Asthma and allergies are common comorbidities during pregnancy and exacerbations are the major clinical problem. Results are not consistent between studies .Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the frequency of asthma and allergic disease during pregnancy.

                This prospective cohort study was carried out at the antenatal clinic of Mobini Hospital in Iran. Overall, 1,603 women were enrolled prior to the 24^th week of pregnancy. All participants were interviewed for allergy disease, allergic trigger factors and severity of asthma. Also, asthma control was categorized as per GINA guidelines. The diagnosis of asthma was based on symptoms, pulmonologist diagnosis, and spirometry assessment. The results were analyzed using SPSS version 20 and T-tests and Chi-square test.

                The prevalence of asthma during pregnancy was 2.1% among the participants. The most common allergens in asthmatic group were pollen, stress, and climate. There was a significant relationship between age, education and place of living in asthmatic and non-asthmatic group, p = 0.003, p = 0.05, p = 0.008, respectively. There was a significant relationship between asthma symptoms among the two groups (p = 0.001). In addition, a significant relationship was found between asthma and other allergic diseases including eczema, allergy, rhinitis, and wheeze in asthmatic women, with a significant relationship between wheeze and coughing and allergy.

Exposure of the pregnant women to high levels of allergens, like pollen, and allergic diseases resulted in an increased risk of pregnancy outcomes. Careful management of these diseases should prevent most of the serious complications.

Key words: allergen, pregnancy, asthma