Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Jun 1;8(1):7.
doi: 10.1186/1710-1492-8-7.

The burden of allergic rhinitis (AR) in Canada: perspectives of physicians and patients

Paul K Keith  1 , Martin Desrosiers, Tina Laister, R Robert Schellenberg, Susan Waserman
Affiliations

The burden of allergic rhinitis (AR) in Canada: perspectives of physicians and patients

Paul K Keith et al. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. .

Abstract

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common problem and we sought to examine the burden of disease and its management in Canada from the perspectives of patients and physicians.

Methods: Two parallel, Canadawide structured telephone interviews surveyed 1,001 AR patients and 160 physicians in July 2006.

Results: 44% of patients had experienced nasal symptoms unrelated to a cold and 20% had a physician diagnosis of AR. At screening 27% reported asthma, 15% chronic or recurrent sinusitis and 5% nasal polyps. With attacks nasal congestion and runny nose were the most bothersome symptoms. Other problems experienced were fatigue (46%), poor concentration (32%), and reduced productivity (23%). Most (77%) had not seen a physician in the past year. Physicians estimated they prescribed intranasal cortico steroids (INCS) to most AR patients (77%) consistent with guidelines but only 19% of patients had used one in the last month. Only 48% of patients were very satisfied with their current INCS. 41% of AR patients reported discontinuing their INCS with the most common reason being a perceived lack of long-lasting symptom relief (44%). 52% of patients felt that their current INCS lost effectiveness over 24 h. The most common INCS side effects included dripping down the throat, bad taste, and dryness. Most AR patients reported lifestyle limitations despite treatment (66%). 61% of patients felt that their symptoms were only somewhat controlled or poorly/not controlled during their worst month in the past year.

Conclusions: AR symptoms are common and many patients experience inadequate control. Physicians report they commonly prescribe intranasal corticosteroids, but patient's perceived loss of efficacy and side effects lead to their discontinuation. Persistent relief of allergic rhinitis symptoms remains a major unmet need. Better treatments and education are required.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Percentage of AR patients surveyed reporting a physician diagnosis for selected comorbid conditions.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Physician estimates of the percentage of AR patients who suffer from selected comorbid conditions (average by physician specialty).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Nasal allergy symptoms most commonly reported by patients to be extremely or moderately bothersome.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Allergic rhinitis symptom control in worst month.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Degree of affliction of nasal allergy symptoms from the perspective of patients.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Medications used for the current management of AR symptoms as reported by patients (% of patients). * The “Other” category includes patients who reported that they used to take prescription medication, used to take OTC medication, used to take both prescription and OTC medication, or did not know/did not have an answer.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Patients’ degree of satisfaction with current INCS (% of patients).
Figure 8
Figure 8
Ability of current INCS to maintain effectiveness over a 24-hour period from patients’ perspectives (% of patients).
Figure 9
Figure 9
Percentage of patients reporting a particular reason for discontinuation of a prescribed nasal allergy medication.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Side effects of INCS reported by patients (% of patients).
Figure 11
Figure 11
Patients’ and physicians’ attitudes toward the statement “there are no truly effective treatments for nasal allergies” (% of respondents).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Bousquet J, Khaltaev N, Cruz AA, Denburg J, Fokkens WJ, Togias A. et al.Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) 2008 update (in collaboration with the World Health Organization, GA(2)LEN and AllerGen) Allergy. 2008;63(Suppl 86):8–160. - PubMed
    1. Pawankar R. Inflammatory mechanisms in allergic rhinitis. Curr Opin Allergy Clin Immunol. 2007;7:1–4. doi: 10.1097/ACI.0b013e3280145347. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Canadian Allergy, Asthma and Immunology Foundation [homepage on the internet] Allergies and Asthma brochure. 2007. [cited 2007 Jul 18]; Available from: [ http:www.allergyfoundation.ca/asthma_allergies_brochure.pdf]
    1. Beggs PJ. Impacts of climate change on aeroallergens: past and future. Clin Exp Allergy. 2004;34:1507–1513. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2222.2004.02061.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rogers CA, Wayne PM, Macklin EA, Muilenberg ML, Wagner CJ, Epstein PR. et al.Interaction of the onset of spring and elevated atmospheric CO2 on ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia L.) pollen production. Environ Health Perspect. 2006;114:865–869. doi: 10.1289/ehp.8549. - DOI - PMC - PubMed