The Score for Allergic Rhinitis Study in Turkey

Abstract

This national survey confirmed the elevated prevalence of AR in Turkey. Our findings may contribute to the formulation of the public health policy and development of preventive and therapeutic strategies for AR in eastern Europe.

A preliminary report on the prevalence and clinical features of allergic rhinitis in ankylosing spondylitis patients

“…[1] We have referred these recent results to compare to the data obtained from AS patients in this study. This comparison may be still debateful due to the noteworthy difference between sample sizes; however, it must be kept in mind that recently diagnosed AS patients who do not use any medications do not constitute a large population.…”

“…[1,2] The reason for the lower prevalence of AR in our AS series may be attributed to several factors. First, prevalence studies based on questionnaires are more likely to yield an exaggerated rate of disease.…”

“…Each item in the questionnaire has a number of point and the total score range from 0 to 16. [1] Skin prick test (ALK Abello A/S, Horsholm, Denmark) was performed on 8 patients who responded positively to SFAR questionnaire. A 20-item test was applied to the skin overlying the ventral surfaces of the arms of patients and the diameter of enduration was measured 15 minutes after the application (Box 1).…”

“…Second, most of our patients were around 4th or 5th decades, which is a relatively old age for manifestation of allergic symptoms. [1,2] Third, even though it has acceptable rates of sensitivity and specificity, allergen sensitivity cannot be precisely documented in every patient with skin prick test. [13] The reason for the lower incidence of AR in our series of AS patients may be attributed to the suppressive effect of Th2 dominant AS over Th2 dominant AR.…”

“…Its prevalence is estimated as 5-40% with a tendency to increase. [1,2] Beyond the data collected from studies performed on large populations, an important contribution to …”