AUTHOR=Wang Xin , Liu Li-Juan , Li Lin-feng , Shi Xiao-Dong , Shen Yi-Wei
TITLE=Clinical Features of Urticaria: Results From a Hospital-Based Multicenter Study in China
JOURNAL=Frontiers in Medicine
VOLUME=9
YEAR=2022
URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/medicine/articles/10.3389/fmed.2022.899857
DOI=10.3389/fmed.2022.899857
ISSN=2296-858X
ABSTRACT=BackgroundThe clinical features of urticaria have not been fully illustrated.
ObjectivesTo demonstrate clinical features of urticaria in different areas of southern and northern China.
MethodsIn this hospital-based multicenter study, outpatients with urticaria filled in a questionnaire during the initial visit and follow-up (once per week, lasting for a month).
ResultsOverall, 1,715 outpatients with urticaria with a mean age of 37.86 ± 16.08 years (range = 0.5–87 years) were recruited. The median disease duration was 1.94 ± 4.31 years (range = 0–58 years). More itching was observed in the northern areas higher than that in the southern areas (99.5 vs 94.1%, P < 0.001). The incidence of pain, arthralgia, and family history in southern areas was higher than that in northern areas (5.1 vs 1.1%, 9.6 vs 0, 10.6% vs 3.2%, P < 0.001). The leading subtypes of specified urticaria were chronic spontaneous urticaria (81.4%) and symptomatic dermographism (35.9%). The incidence of symptomatic dermographism and cold urticaria in the southern areas was lower than that in the northern areas (31.8 vs. 50.3%, 4 vs. 8.5%, P < 0.001). Allergic diseases were the most common concomitant disorders of urticaria. More than half of the patients had to avoid certain food, such as fish-prawn-crab (30.7%) and alcohol (20%). Ebastine (41.1%) was the most commonly prescribed drug. The disease duration negatively correlated with the severity of itching and number of wheals (>50/24H) (Spearman’s rank correlation test, p < 0.001).
ConclusionThis study provides a profile of clinical characteristics of urticaria in China and filled the gap in the field of regional comparative studies on urticaria.