Allergic conditions: secondary care data

Since most people with allergic conditions are managed in primary care, secondary care (hospital) data relate to a smaller group of people, generally with more severe conditions.

Chart 1 shows data from the Scottish Morbidity Record (SMR01) scheme, which records hospital inpatient and day case activity for Scotland. The tables show the numbers and rates of hospital admissions for selected allergic conditions and for asthma, together with the corresponding rates, for the financial years 2008/09 to 2021/22.

The chart shows that rates of hospital admissions per 100,000 of the population have remained relatively constant for all allergies across the past 10 years in Scotland until the recent COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021/22, 112 people per 100,000 were hospitalised for an allergy-related illness at least once during the year, compared to 93 people per 100,000 in 2020/21. In the years leading up to the pandemic, admissions were consistently around 160 people per 100.000. The pandemic caused a large disruption to healthcare services, and had an impact on individuals’ health and their use of healthcare services. Therefore, this data should be interpreted with caution.