Individual multidisciplinary clinical phenotypes of nasal and ocular symptoms in hay fever: Crowdsourced cross-sectional study using AllerSearch

Takenori Inomata; Jaemyoung Sung; Kenta Fujio; Masahiro Nakamura; Yasutsugu Akasaki; Ken Nagino; Yuichi Okumura; Masao Iwagami; Keiichi Fujimoto; Nobuyuki Ebihara; Masahiro Nakamura; Akie Midorikawa-Inomata; Hurramhon Shokirova; Tianxiang Huang; Kunihiko Hirosawa; Maria Miura; Mizu Ohno; Yuki Morooka; Nanami Iwata; Yuma Iwasaki; Akira Murakami

doi:10.1016/j.alit.2023.01.001

Individual multidisciplinary clinical phenotypes of nasal and ocular symptoms in hay fever: Crowdsourced cross-sectional study using AllerSearch

Allergol Int. 2023 Jul;72(3):418-427. doi: 10.1016/j.alit.2023.01.001. Epub 2023 Feb 3.

Authors

Takenori Inomata¹, Jaemyoung Sung², Kenta Fujio³, Masahiro Nakamura⁴, Yasutsugu Akasaki³, Ken Nagino⁵, Yuichi Okumura³, Masao Iwagami⁶, Keiichi Fujimoto³, Nobuyuki Ebihara⁷, Masahiro Nakamura⁸, Akie Midorikawa-Inomata⁹, Hurramhon Shokirova¹⁰, Tianxiang Huang³, Kunihiko Hirosawa³, Maria Miura³, Mizu Ohno³, Yuki Morooka³, Nanami Iwata³, Yuma Iwasaki¹⁰, Akira Murakami³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Digital Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Hospital Administration, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; AI Incubation Farm, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: tinoma@juntendo.ac.jp.
² Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
³ Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Digital Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Digital Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Precision Health, Department of Bioengineering, Graduate School of Bioengineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Digital Medicine, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan; Department of Hospital Administration, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁶ Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan.
⁷ Department of Ophthalmology, Urayasu Hospital, Juntendo University, Chiba, Japan.
⁸ Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Juntendo University Faculty of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
⁹ Department of Hospital Administration, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
¹⁰ Department of Ophthalmology, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

PMID: 36740498
DOI: 10.1016/j.alit.2023.01.001

Abstract

Background: Multidisciplinary efforts to prospectively collect and analyze symptoms of hay fever are limited. We aimed to identify the characteristics of nasal and ocular symptoms of hay fever, using the AllerSearch smartphone application.

Methods: This mobile health-based prospective observational study using the AllerSearch smartphone application was conducted between February 1, 2018, and May 1, 2020. Individuals who downloaded AllerSearch from Japan and provided comprehensive self-assessments (including 17 items related to quality of life [QoL]-related items) were included. The characteristics and risk factors for allergic rhinitis (AR) and allergic conjunctivitis (AC) were identified using hierarchical heat maps and multivariate logistic regression.

Results: Of the 9041 participants with hay fever, 58.8% had AR and AC, 22.2% had AR, and 5.7% had AC. The AR-AC comorbid cohort showed worse symptoms of hay fever and QoL scores than the other cohorts. Factors (odds ratio, 95% confidence interval) associated with AR-AC included a lower age (0.98, 0.97-0.98), female sex (1.31, 1.19-1.45), liver disease (1.58, 1.26-2.35), dry eye disease (1.45, 1.30-1.63), unknown dry eye disease status (1.46, 1.31-1.62), contact lens use discontinuation during the hay fever season (1.69, 1.28-2.23), and bedroom flooring material other than hardwood, carpet, tatami, or vinyl (1.91, 1.16-3.14).

Conclusions: Analysis of medical big data for hay fever performed using a mobile health app helped identify risk factors and characteristics of AC, AR, and AR-AC. Phenotyping of highly variable symptoms of hay fever, such as nasal and ocular symptoms, can facilitate better-quality clinical care.

Keywords: Allergic conjunctivitis; Allergic rhinitis; Hay fever; Mobile health; Quality of life.

Publication types

Observational Study

MeSH terms

Conjunctivitis, Allergic*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Crowdsourcing*
Dry Eye Syndromes* / diagnosis
Dry Eye Syndromes* / epidemiology
Dry Eye Syndromes* / etiology
Female
Humans
Quality of Life
Rhinitis, Allergic* / diagnosis
Rhinitis, Allergic* / epidemiology
Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal* / diagnosis
Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal* / epidemiology