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Prevalence, comorbidities and treatment of allergic rhinitis

A recent study published in Allergy investigated the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR), presence of comorbidities, and treatment received by patients with AR. 1

The authors examined routine outpatient information from German National Health Insurance beneficiaries insured in the Saxony region over a 7-year period from January 2005–December 2011. 1This dataset comprised a large, population-based cohort (1,811,094 individuals). 1

Prevalence

The prevalence of AR (incident + prevalent cases of AR) over the 7-year period was 9.5% (171,539 patients). 1

Comorbidities

Patients with prevalent AR had a three-times-higher risk of developing asthma in comparison to patients without AR. 1

Patients with prevalent AR had a significantly increased risk of: 1

  • Asthma
  • Atopic dermatitis
  • Newly diagnosed depressive disorder
  • Anxiety
  • ADHD.

Treatment

Most patients with prevalent or incident AR received treatment from doctors from more than one area of speciality. 1

Approximately 20% of children with AR and 36% of adults with AR were treated by general practitioners only. 1

The authors concluded AR has a high disease burden, associated with high prevalence of healthcare utilisation, in addition to atopic and mental health comorbidities. 1Further research in large patient cohorts is required to improve our understanding of the spectrum of clinically relevant comorbidities and investigate whether adequate treatment of AR may decrease the risk of these comorbidities. 1

Reference list

  1. Schmitt J, Stadler E, Küster D, Wüstenberg EG. Medical care and treatment of allergic rhinitis. A population-based cohort study based on routine healthcare utilization data. Allergy 2016. doi: 10.1111/all.12838. [Epub ahead of print].