Allergic rhinitis (AR), the inflammation of nasal mucosa, the most common airway disease, caused by exposure to allergens, severely affects patients' quality of life, and is increasing in prevalence worldwide.
The aim of this study is to establish the relationship between severity of allergic rhinitis and alterations in of sleep.
Methods:
The study was conducted using a sample of 217 patients, who attended recruited in the Allergy and Immunology Division at the San Roque Hospital, Córdoba, Argentina, during the period from August to December.
Classification of allergic rhinitis according to ARIA and Epworth scale were used to assess the possibility of falling asleep during the day. Epworth scale: 0-1: mild; 2-4 moderate; 5-6: severe were taken as reference values. Data according to the statistical method of Chi Square were analyzed.
Results:
Of the total 217 patients, 34% had persistent mild AR, 35% had persistent moderate-severe rhinitis, and 31% intermittent AR.
Of the persistent mild (n = 73), with sleep disturbance as per Epworth, 50.8% were mild, 31.5% moderate and 18% severe; by contrast the persistent moderate-severe (n = 76) showed the following results in the Epworth scale: mild 5.3%, moderate 21%, severe 73.7%.
On the other hand, of the patients with intermittent allergic rhinitis (n = 68), who had daytime sleepiness, 30.88% were mild, 33.82% moderate and 35.2% severe.
Furthermore, taking into account only patients with impaired severe sleep according to the Epworth scale (n = 93) and the classification of allergic rhinitis, we obtained the following results : 13.98% persistent mild, 60.21% persistent moderate severe and 25.8% intermittent rhinitis.
Conclusions:
Patients with persistent moderate-severe allergic rhinitis show a greater impact on sleep quality and therefore in daytime sleepiness compared to persistent mild AR patients.
The majority of patients with intermittent allergic rhinitis also showed a severe alteration of the Epworth scale during symptomatic periods.