Atopy and Lifestyle Survey of Allergic Patients From Urban Environment in Romania: Preliminary Data From an Interactive Qualifying Project

Introduction Respiratory allergies represent an important public health problem, with increasing prevalence and severity in Europe during the last decades. The rise of pollen allergies is an issue that continues to negatively impact people's daily lives across the globe and has become more important in the light of global warming and increasing air pollution. The aim of our paper is to evaluate the prevalence of declared atopy and the influence of lifestyle on allergic diseases, particularly on pollen allergies, in the urban environment from Romania. Methods The study is based on the cooperation Interactive Qualifying Project (IQP) called "Pollen Allergies in Romania: Optimizing Data Analysis in Raising Awareness", agreed and carried on between a group of North-American students and teachers from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a hospital-based allergy team from Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy and Colentina Clinical Hospital from Bucharest. The project aimed to evaluate the prevalence of atopy and lifestyle practices of allergic patients and to develop a data analysis tool to determine correlations between pollen counts and other environmental factors in the city of Bucharest. Results The lifestyle survey revealed that about one-third of allergic patients declared history of atopy. Some of the declared lifestyle practices can be considered environmental risk factors for allergies. This IQP can be considered a model of international, interdisciplinary and intercultural collaboration. Conclusion We concluded that Romania is facing an increasing pollen allergies trend and some actual lifestyle aspects can significantly influence the risk of pollen allergies in the big city environment.