Seasonal Profile in Adults with Allergic Rhinitis in a Family Medicine Unit

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the seasonal profile of allergic rhinitis in adult patients aged 20 to 59 years. Methods: cross-sectional analytical study conducted at the Family Medicine Unit No. 75 of the Mexican Institute of Social Security, 182 patients with allergic rhinitis (ar) were included, by simple random probability sampling. Two questionnaires were applied; the first, based on the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire (spaq) adapted for allergic rhinitis which describes symptomatology characteristics and limitation of daily activities; the second consisted of the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (aria) for the determination of duration and severity. The inferential statistical analysis was obtained by χ², with a significance level of p<0.05 and a 95% interval. Results: peak months in symptomatology were observed, which corresponded to April (17.58%), November (26.92%) and December (38.46%), there was persistent duration in 26.4% of cases and mild severity in 36.8% of adults with ar; when applying the χ² test between the months with the highest peak in symptomatology and aria, p>0.05 value was obtained. Conclusions: seasonal profile and allergic rhinitis present two peaks, its symptomatology increases in spring and winter, it was determined by aria that there was an important fraction of cases with persistent duration and mild severity. Preventive measures are required for medical control and improvement in quality of life.