Discrimination between moderate and severe disease may be used in patients with either treated or untreated allergic rhinitis

Abstract

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common disease with major socioeconomic burden and a significant impact on quality of life. The aim of this study was to discriminate between moderate and severe AR patients whether receiving treatment or not, using a modified criterion of allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma (ARIA) classification. The modified ARIA severity classification (J Allergy Clin Immunol, 120, 2007, 359) categorizes AR as mild (no items affected), moderate (1-3 items affected), and severe (all four items affected). We applied these criteria to 1666 treated and 1058 untreated AR patients and compared their symptoms total four-symptom score (T4SS) and quality of life (ESPRINT-15), according to their clinical severity. Allergic rhinitis clinical status was significantly worse (P < 0.001) in treated than in untreated patients. For both treated and untreated patients, T4SS and ESPRINT-15 Quality of life scores were significantly worse (P < 0.001) in severe than in moderate patients. The modified ARIA severity classification is a useful clinical tool to discriminate moderate from severe AR among both treated and untreated patients.