Analysis of the Quality of Life of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis in Hyogo Prefecture

Quality of life (QOL) is recognized as a crucial aspect for assessing the impact of diseases, including allergic rhinitis, on the every day life of patients.We used the Japanese Rhino-Conjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (JRQLQ) to evaluate the QOL of 361 patients with allergic rhinitis between July of 2004 and August of 2005. The clinical symptoms and the local findings on nasal examination were also evaluated. The QOL of females tended to be more impaired than that of males, and by seasonal more than by perennial allergy. The QOL scores of the patients whose major symptoms were nasal discharge and/or sneezing (ND-S type) were higher than those of the patients who mainly complained of nasal obstruction. Among the patients with the ND-S-type of allergic rhinitis, the QOL scores were significantly lower in those with mild to moderate symptoms than in those with severe symptoms. Of the three major nasal symptoms, nasal discharge had the strongest influence on the total score in the QOL questionnaire as well as in all the QOL domains, except for sleep, which was mainly affected by nasal obstruction.When treating patients with allergic rhinitis, we must take into account the QOL of the patients as well as the nasal symptoms and local findings on nasal examination.