Comparison of environmental intolerances and symptoms between patients with multiple chemical sensitivity, subjects with self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity, patients with bronchial asthma, and the general population

Background

Environmental hypersensitivity/intolerance is considered closely related to allergic diseases. To understand these conditions, the environmental intolerances and symptoms of patients with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), subjects with self-reported electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), patients with bronchial asthma (BA), and the general population were compared using universal questionnaires.

Methods

A survey was conducted from 2012 to 2015. The subjects were categorized in four groups: 111 patients with physician-diagnosed MCS, 119 subjects with self-reported EHS, patients with 98 physician-diagnosed BA, and 619 controls from general population. The Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory and EHS questionnaire were used. The differences between the questionnaire scores among the four groups were tested using logistic regression analyses adjusted for age and gender as covariates.

Results

The MCS and EHS groups had significantly high scores of intolerances to multiple environmental factors, life impact, and multiple symptoms than the BA and control groups. Although the differences between most of these scores of the MCS and EHS groups were not significant, the electromagnetic hypersensitivity reaction was significantly higher in the EHS group than in the MCS group. In addition, the scores for intolerances to chemicals and other compounds, life impact, and several symptoms of the BA group were significantly higher than those of the control group.

Conclusions

This study clarified the similarities and differences of the environmental intolerances and symptoms between the four groups.