TY - JOUR T1 - The Association Between Hay Fever and Stroke in a Cohort of Middle Aged and Elderly Adults JF - The Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine JO - J Am Board Fam Med SP - 179 LP - 183 DO - 10.3122/jabfm.2008.03.070273 VL - 21 IS - 3 AU - Eric M. Matheson AU - Marty S. Player AU - Arch G. Mainous III AU - Dana E. King AU - Charles J. Everett Y1 - 2008/05/01 UR - http://www.jabfm.org/content/21/3/179.abstract N2 - Background: Asthma has been linked to stroke, but it is unknown if hay fever is related to stroke. This study was designed to investigate if there is an association between a reported history of hay fever and stroke during a 4.4-year study period.Methods: Analysis was performed of the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study, a cohort of middle aged and elderly adults. We examined the association of a reported history of hay fever to the development of stroke.Results: There were 9272 participants meeting our criteria, of which 125 had strokes. Of those with a history of hay fever, 2.2% had a stroke. Of those without a history of hay fever, 1.25% had a stroke. Participants with a history of hay fever had an unadjusted hazard ratio of 1.72 (95% CI, 1.08–2.27) for stroke versus participants without hay fever. Risk of stroke remained significant (hazard ratio, 1.87 [95% CI, 1.17–2.99]) after controlling for age, sex, race, smoking status, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, alcohol use, and hyperlipidemia.Conclusion: A history of hay fever seems to be a risk factor for stroke, and this association may be an area for future research and intervention. ER -