Childhood infections, asthma and allergy trajectories, and chronic rhinosinusitis in middle age: A prospective cohort study across six decades

Abstract Introduction Evidence on the early life risk factors of adult CRS, and the history of asthma and allergies across the life course, is limited. Aim To investigate relationships between respiratory infective/allergic conditions in childhood, and asthma and allergies across the life course and CRS in middle age. Methods Data were from the population‐based Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS) cohort, first studied in 1968 when aged 6–7 years ( n = 8583) and serially followed into middle age ( n = 3609). Using a well‐accepted epidemiological definition, participants were assigned a CRS‐severity subtype at age 53: no sinusitis/CRS (reference); past doctor diagnosis only; current symptoms without doctor diagnosis; and doctor‐diagnosed CRS with current symptoms. Relationships with infective/allergic respiratory illnesses at age 7, and previously published asthma‐allergy trajectories from 7 to 53 years, were examined using multinominal regression. Results In middle age, 5.8% reported current CRS symptoms with 2.5% doctor‐diagnosed. Childhood conditions associated with symptomatic doctor‐diagnosed CRS included frequent head colds (multinomial odds ratio [mOR] = 2.04 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.24, 3.37)), frequent tonsillitis (mOR = 1.61 [95% CI: 1.00, 2.59]) and current childhood asthma (mOR = 2.23 [95% CI: 1.25, 3.98]). Life course trajectories that featured late‐onset or persistent asthma and allergies were associated with all CRS subtypes in middle age; early‐onset persistent asthma and allergies (mOR = 6.74, 95% CI: 2.76, 16.4); late‐onset asthma allergies (mOR = 15.9, 95% CI: 8.06, 31.4), and late‐onset hayfever (mOR = 3.02, 95% CI: 1.51, 6.06) were associated with symptomatic doctor‐diagnosed CRS. Conclusion Current asthma, frequent head colds and tonsillitis at age 7 could signal a susceptible child who is at higher risk for CRS in mid‐adult life and who might benefit from closer monitoring and/or proactive management. Concurrent asthma and allergies were strongly associated and are potential treatable traits of adult CRS.