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Rhinitis is a common chronic condition that has been shown in observational and interventional studies to have a substantial impact on the sufferer. This study was performed to describe the impact of symptoms of allergic rhinitis (AR) on sleep, quality of life, and productivity in a U.S. population. A cohort of AR sufferers and non-AR sufferers was assembled by screening a representative sample of 15,000 households with a self-administered questionnaire in January 2004. A subsample of respondents received a detailed follow-up questionnaire in the May/June pollen season. Of the 7024 individuals with complete data, 3831 met the case definition of AR sufferer; 3193 were non-AR sufferers. Overall, AR sufferers had consistently poorer average scores on the sleep, quality of life, cognition, and productivity scales compared with non-AR sufferers. Subjects with AR symptoms had more sleep impairment (51.2) compared with subjects with non-AR symptoms and those with no symptoms (59.8 and 63.3, respectively). Only 3.6% of subjects with AR symptoms experienced 100% sleep adequacy compared with 11.7% of subjects with non-AR symptoms and 19.2% of subjects with no symptoms. Quality of life and cognition scores were worse in subjects with AR symptoms compared with subjects with non-AR or no symptoms. Work and school productivity was significantly reduced in subjects with AR symptoms in the past 4 weeks compared with subjects with no symptoms (p < 0.05). Individuals who suffer from AR symptoms experience a substantial burden on their ability to sleep, quality of life, cognitive function, and school/workplace productivity.
Meltzer et al. (Fri,) studied this question.