The Relationship between House Type and Truck Traffic with Allergic Rhinitis in Adolescents

Although many studies have been conducted on allergic diseases, their risk factors including allergic rhinitis have not yet been fully understood. The present study aims to investigate the relationship between house type, floor, and frequency of truck traffic on the street of residences with allergic rhinitis in adolescents in Yazd.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 5141 adolescents aged 13-14 years, from February 2020 to June 2020, using the large-scale Global Asthma Network (GAN) survey data in Yazd. The data were collected electronically using the GAN standard questionnaire, and analyzed in SPSS software version 23 using descriptive and analytical statistics (Chi-square and logistic regression). The value of P < 0.05 was considered significant.

In this study, 11.2% of boys and 13.3% of girls had allergic rhinitis, indicating a significant difference by gender (P = 0.025). The prevalence of allergic rhinitis did not differ significantly according to the type of house (apartment or detached house with a yard) and the floor (P > 0.05). However, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis showed a significant correlation with the frequency of truck traffic on the street of residence (P = 0.001). If the truck passed through the street near the house almost all day, the chance of developing allergic rhinitis would be 2.4 times higher.

The risk of allergic rhinitis increases with the frequent truck traffic from the street near the house, but the type of house and floor do not have a significant effect.