TY  - JOUR
A1  - Fröhlich, M.
A1  - Pinart, M.
A1  - Keller, T.
A1  - Reich, A.
A1  - Cabieses, B.
A1  - Hohmann, C.
A1  - Postma, D. S.
A1  - Bousquet, J.
A1  - Antó, J. M.
A1  - Keil, T.
A1  - Roll, S.
T1  - Is there a sex-shift in prevalence of allergic rhinitis and comorbid asthma from childhood to adulthood? A meta-analysis
JF  - Clinical and Translational Allergy
N2  - Background: Allergic rhinitis and asthma as single entities affect more boys than girls in childhood but more females in adulthood. However, it is unclear if this prevalence sex-shift also occurs in allergic rhinitis and concurrent asthma. Thus, our aim was to compare sex-specifc differences in the prevalence of coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma in childhood, adolescence and adulthood.

Methods: Post-hoc analysis of systematic review with meta-analysis concerning sex-specific prevalence of allergic rhinitis. Using random-effects meta-analysis, we assessed male–female ratios for coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma in children (0–10 years), adolescents (11–17) and adults (> 17). Electronic searches were performed using MEDLINE and EMBASE for the time period 2000–2014. We included population-based observational studies, reporting coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma as outcome stratifed by sex. We excluded non-original or non-population-based studies, studies with only male or female participants or selective patient collectives.

Results: From a total of 6539 citations, 10 studies with a total of 93,483 participants met the inclusion criteria. The male–female ratios (95% CI) for coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma were 1.65 (1.52; 1.78) in children (N = 6 studies), 0.61 (0.51; 0.72) in adolescents (N = 2) and 1.03 (0.79; 1.35) in adults (N = 2). Male–female ratios for allergic rhinitis only were 1.25 (1.19; 1.32, N = 5) in children, 0.80 (0.71; 0.89, N = 2) in adolescents and 0.98 (0.74; 1.30, N = 2) in adults, respectively.

Conclusions: The prevalence of coexisting allergic rhinitis and asthma shows a clear male predominance in childhood and seems to switch to a female predominance in adolescents. This switch was less pronounced for allergic rhinitis only.
KW  - Medicine
KW  - Allergic rhinitis
KW  - Asthma
KW  - Multimorbidity
KW  - Prevalence
KW  - Systematic review
Y1  - 2017
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-172508
VL  - 7
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Schuler, Michael
A1  - Musekamp, Gunda
A1  - Bengel, Jürgen
A1  - Nolte, Sandra
A1  - Osborne, Richard H.
A1  - Faller, Hermann
T1  - Measurement invariance across chronic conditions: a systematic review and an empirical investigation of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ™)
N2  - Background

To examine whether lack of measurement invariance (MI) influences mean comparisons among different disease groups, this paper provides (1) a systematic review of MI in generic constructs across chronic conditions and (2) an empirical analysis of MI in the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ™).

Methods

(1) We searched for studies of MI among different chronic conditions in online databases. (2) Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses were used to study MI among five chronic conditions (orthopedic condition, rheumatism, asthma, COPD, cancer) in the heiQ™ with N = 1404 rehabilitation inpatients. Impact on latent and composite mean differences was examined.

Results

(1) A total of 30 relevant studies suggested that about one in three items lacked MI. However, only four studies examined impact on latent mean differences. Scale means were only affected in one of these three studies. (2) Across the eight heiQ™ scales, seven scales had items with lack of MI in at least one disease group. However, in only two heiQ™ scales were some latent or composite mean differences affected.

Conclusions

Lack of MI among disease groups is common and may have a relevant influence on mean comparisons when using generic instruments. Therefore, when comparing disease groups, tests of MI should be implemented. More studies of MI and according impact on mean differences in generic questionnaires are needed.
KW  - Measurement invariance
KW  - Bias
KW  - Chronic disease
KW  - Generic questionnaire
KW  - Systematic review
Y1  - 2014
U6  - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:bvb:20-opus-110441
ER  -