{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T01:03:38Z","timestamp":1779671018420,"version":"3.53.1"},"reference-count":52,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,23]],"date-time":"2026-05-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1779494400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: This study aimed to evaluate referral reasons, distribution of allergic diseases, atopic status, and comorbidity associations among patients aged 65 years and older presenting to a tertiary allergy clinic. Methods: This retrospective study included all geriatric patients (\u226565 years) who attended the Immunology and Allergy outpatient clinic at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital between January 2024 and December 2025. Demographic characteristics, comorbidities, referral complaints, and allergic diagnoses were recorded. Allergen sensitization was assessed using skin tests and\/or allergen-specific IgE measurements. Results: A total of 1302 geriatric patients were included (mean age 70.9 years; 59.8% female). At least one comorbidity was present in 62.6% of patients, with hypertension being the most common(39.4%). The leading referral complaints were rhinorrhoea\/sneezing (22.8%), pruritus (19.1%), drug allergy\/adverse drug reactions (14.8%), and chronic urticaria (10.9%). The most common diagnoses were rhinitis (63.2% non-allergic), non-allergic pruritus, drug allergy, and chronic urticaria. Among inhalant allergens, pollen sensitivity (42.2%) was most frequent, followed by house dust mite (32.5%). The most frequently implicated drug groups were antibiotics (42.4%) and analgesics (21.7%). Chronic urticaria and ACE inhibitor-associated angioedema showed significant gender differences: 68.6% female (p = 0.001) and 66.7% male (p = 0.008), respectively. Patients with asthma, rhinitis, or angioedema frequently had comorbid conditions (91.1%, 55.8%, and 83.7%, p = 0.001, p = 0.013, and p = 0.001, respectively). Conclusions: Allergy clinic presentations in elderly patients reflect a broad clinical spectrum, including non-allergic conditions, frequent drug-related reactions in elderly patients with multiple comorbidities, and age-related immunological changes alongside atopic diseases. A comprehensive, individualized diagnostic approach is essential when evaluating allergic complaints in the geriatric population.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina62061010","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,25]],"date-time":"2026-05-25T00:30:33Z","timestamp":1779669033000},"page":"1010","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Allergy in the Elderly: A Broad Clinical Spectrum Beyond Atopy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"62","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7199-436X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fikriye","family":"Kalkan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6200-0909","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Begum","family":"Gorgulu Akin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Chest Diseases, School of Medicine, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6651-2151","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sarpcan","family":"Maden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8272-5686","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Makbule Seda Bayrak","family":"Durmaz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8653-3497","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Betul","family":"Ozdel Ozturk","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7861-7372","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Orhun","family":"Efe","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3270-5884","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sadan","family":"Soyyigit","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Department of Chest Diseases, School of Medicine, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, Ankara 06800, Turkey"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.1186\/s12948-017-0059-2","article-title":"Allergic diseases in the elderly: Biological characteristics and main immunological and non-immunological mechanisms","volume":"15","author":"Ventura","year":"2017","journal-title":"Clin. 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