Source: Annual Congress 2002 - Epidemiology of asthma, rhinitis and allergy
Disease area: Airway diseases

Abstract

Background: Asthma and rhinitis are chronic illnesses, which affect patient quality of life (QOL). QOL questionnaires can show the burden af illness and treatment effect on a chosen population. Objective: To establish baseline QOL data in a longitudinal randomized study comparing the current medical management of asthma and rhinitis patients either by specialists or general practitioners (GP) during a 3-year treatment and intervention period. Methods: A random population of 608 patients (aged 14-45 years) with asthma (67%) and rhinitis (77%) or both (39%) were evaluated by the SF36 questionnaire before randomization to treatment by specialist or GP. All participants were examined with lung function test, bronchial challenges, and skin prick tests. The SF-36 score were compared to the severity of their asthma or rhinitis defined by GINA and ARIA guidelines. Results: Patients with asthma scored lower than rhinitis patients in the SF-36. Severe asthmatics scored poorly in all domains, while mild asthmatics scored low in "Vitality" and "Mental health" domains. No difference between allergic or non-allergic asthma was observed. The rhinitis patients did better in the physical part of the SF36 questionnaire, but had poor Mental Component Summery scores. The SF36 score was not correlated with disease severity in rhinitis patients but the non-allergic group showed a significantly lower score than allergic rhinitis patients. "General health perception" and "Mental health" was impaired in both diseases.Conclusion: This study shows that rhinitis and asthma patients' QOL is significantly impaired. Asthma patients are more affected than rhinitis patients and severe asthmatics scored lowest. SF36 scores were not correlated to rhinitis disease severity.

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L. L. B. S. Buch-Sørensen, S. S. N. C. Nepper-Christensen, H. H. N. Nolte, V. V. B. Backer (Copenhagen, Denmark). Quality of life in patients with asthma or rhinitis. Eur Respir J 2002; 20: Suppl. 38, 804

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