Épidémiologie de la plainte allergique en médecine générale

Allergic conditions account for a large proportion of chronic diseases. Here, the presenting complaints of patients with allergic diseases seen in consultation with three general practitioners are compared with published epidemiologic data. Questionnaires from 346 patients (mean age 36.3 years, 213 women:133 men) were available for analysis. There was no statistically significant difference between the allergy as seen by the patients and that observed by the doctor (28.9% versus 35.3%, P = 0.09). Seventy-six percent of the allergic patients said that they had previously consulted their generalist for this problem. Forty-two percent reported a positive family history of allergy (63% of the allergic patients versus 33.3% of the nonallergic patients, P < 0.001). Allergic rhinitis was the most frequent complaint, reported by 19.8% of the patients, followed by conjunctivitis (14.4%), eczema (11.9%), asthma (7.6%), urticaria (5.8%), and angioedema (3.2%). For each of these complaints, the doctor's evaluation was practically identical. Food allergy, all complaints included, was claimed by 4% of the patients but food allergy was recognized by only 0.3% of the doctors. Drug allergy was reported by 10.8% of the patients and recognized as such by 7.8% of the doctors. In conclusion, the results of this study on allergic complaints reported by patients seen in general practice demonstrate no overvaluation of these complaints by the patients. These results are difficult to compare with published data, which are disparate.