A study on prevalence and effects of allergic rhinitis and asthma on quality of life among secondary school’s student in Kinta District, Perak

Abstract

Allergic rhinitis (AR) and bronchial asthma (BA) are common inflammatory chronic respiratory diseases, and they are significant public health challenges on a global scale. The prevalence of these diseases are on the rise in all regions of the world, affecting all ages but more commonly among children and adolescences. Both AR and BA affect patients to a different extent with variable restrictions in the physical, emotional, and social aspects of the patient's life. They may be seen as two presentations of the same disease by sharing common epidemiologic, histologic, physiologic, and immunopathologic linkages. To determine the prevalence and impact of allergic rhinitis, asthma and allergic rhinitis with asthma on quality of life among secondary school students in Kinta District, Perak. A cross-sectional study was done among secondary school students from randomly selected three schools in Kinta District, Ipoh, Perak. A well-vetted and validated questionnaire was used to collect the data, and statistical analysis was done to determine the prevalence and impact of AR, BA, or both. A total of 250 secondary school students were involved in this study. Malays were the majority among the participants. The prevalence of AR alone, BA alone, and disease co-occurance were 27.2%, 9.2%, and 8%, respectively. Nearly 20% of the participants were troublesome but low scale in terms of quality of life followed by disturbed sleep, restricted participation in school, and daily activities. Only 6% of the participants experienced sleep disturbance due to asthma, but daily anti-asthmatic medication was essential in only 1.2%. This study showed that although a relatively high prevalence of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma. There was no significant low quality of life among sufferers.