Having hayfever during exams 'increases the chance of lower marks'

Schoolchildren who suffer from hayfever are much more likely to get worse marks in exams than their healthy classmates, a new study shows.

Having the debilitating condition can double the chances that their final grade with be worse than those in mock tests.

Researchers said that hayfever can cause children to sleep badly, making them tired during their exams.

The physical symptoms of the condition, which can include blocked nose, sneezing, runny nose, itchy eyes, can also distract them from their exam work.

Prof Stephen Durham, of the Royal Brompton Hospital, Chelsea, told an allergy conference in London: 'hayfever a is a distressing condition that may compromise what for most of us is the best time of the year.

'Unfortunately, the condition is often trivialised – not only by doctors and relatives, but by the patients themselves.

'What this study tells us is that in addition to causing troublesome symptoms, hayfever may impair examination performance at a very important time for teenagers and young adults.'

The study found that children who had hayfever during an exam were 40pc more likely get a grade below that they achieved in their mocks.

Having severe hayfever made them twice as likely to get a lower final mark.

The team also found that teenagers’ abilities were impaired by taking sedating antihistamine treatments.

They were 70pc more likely to drop a grade if they had taken the medication.

They warned that the problem was made worse by the fact that exams are held mainly in the summer when pollen levels are highest.

The study looked at 1,834 students, aged between 15 and 17, who were taking GCSEs, the UK equivalent to Junior Certificate, in Maths, English or Science.

They were all given questionnaires to assess if they were suffering from hay fever as they sat the exam.

Teenagers are normally expected to either achieve their predicted grades or, with increased effort, improve on them when sitting the final exam.

The research team said that any drop in grade was unexpected.

Four in 10 patients with hayfever say that the condition affects their sleep.

This can have a knock-on effect the following day, causing daytime drowsiness which affects performance at work and in school.

The findings were presented at the European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology conference in London.

- Kate Devlin

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