Quality of life of patients with allergic rhinitis

Background. Allergic rhinitis as a chronic allergic disease affects 10-25% of general population, lowering the quality of people's lives. Objectives. The study aimed at analyzing the quality of life of patients with allergic rhinitis in relation to social-demographic and medical variables (disease duration and length of treatment). Material and methods. The study was performed in 2013 and involved 242 patients aged 18-45 from an allergy clinic in Szczecin. In the study the authors used a diagnostic survey method which applied the standardized SF-36 questionnaire. Results. The analysis showed that age significantly influences the subjects' quality of life with respect to mental health, general health and life activity. Younger persons proved to have higher quality of life in the scope of overall functioning, both in mental and physical spheres (p < 0.05). In patients with higher education QoL was significantly higher in comparison with those with secondary, primary or vocational education. Higher QoL was demonstrated in three domains of the SF-36 questionnaire: V, GH and PCS. Conclusions. Significant factors modifying QoL of patients with allergic rhinitis were age and education, yet it was not affected by gender, place of residence or disease duration and length of treatment.