National Health & Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006

A field interviewer collecting the combined bed and floor dust sample from a home in North Carolina.

In cooperation with NIAID, NIEHS developed an allergy component to the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2005-2006. The component was fully implemented in January 2005. The goal of the allergy component is to gain a better understanding of asthma and the roles that indoor allergens and endotoxin play in asthma and other allergic diseases.

The specific aims of this research are to:

• estimate the nationwide prevalence of indoor allergen and endotoxin exposures
• estimate the nationwide prevalence of allergic sensitization to a variety of indoor, outdoor, and food allergens
• estimate the nationwide prevalence of the four leading allergic diseases: asthma, hay fever, eczema, and sinusitis
• investigate the complex relationships between allergen and endotoxin exposures, allergic sensitization, and allergic disease.

To address these aims, the following procedures are being performed as part of the allergy component:

• the measurement of total and allergen-specific immunoglobulin E
• the collection of a vacuum dust sample from the bedroom of all subjects
• the analysis of dust for 10 indoor allergens and endotoxin
• the addition of questions to the family- and subject-level questionnaires

The NHANES is the only existing national survey that can capture both the environmental and clinical data, and it will provide an invaluable database unmatched by any in size or content. This database will allow researchers to examine many relationships besides the ones proposed, such as the role of diet, obesity, diabetes, and genetics in the development of allergic sensitization and disease.

For additional information, you can visit the NHANES Web site at: http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes.htm .