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Age, sex, other risk factors differentiate allergic, non-allergic rhinitis

Age, sex and other risk factors indicated that allergic and non-allergic rhinitis may be separate and different conditions, according to researchers from Italy.

“Our survey indicates that [allergic rhinitis (AR)] and [non-allergic rhinitis (NAR)] are fairly distinct conditions,” Lucia Cazzoletti, MSc, assistant professor at the unit of epidemiology and medical statistics, department of diagnostics and public health at the University of Verona in Italy, and colleagues wrote. “Besides having a different age and [sex] distribution, they also have a dissimilar age at onset. Of further interest is the fact that the two nasal diseases are related to different risk factors. NAR is associated with high pollution linked to industrial plants and smoking habits. [Patients] with a higher education current and current smokers had a lower risk for AR, which was more frequently reported by [patients] living in a Mediterranean climate.”

Participants answered a series of questions about respiratory symptoms and risk factors as part of the Gene Environment Interactions in Respiratory Diseases (GEIRD) study, and researchers classified each participant as having allergic or non-allergic rhinitis based on whether participants affirmatively answered that they had nasal allergies or nasal symptoms without a cold or flu.

Cazzoletti and colleagues grouped the participants based on age, with 10,494 participants in the 20- to 44-years-old group, 2,167 participants in the 45- to 64-years-old group and 1,030 participants in the 65- to 84-years-old group, according to the abstract.

They found that the rate of non-allergic rhinitis was highest among women in the 20- to 44-years-old group (12%; 95% CI, 11.1-13.1) and the incidence rate descended to 7.5% (95% CI, 5.4-10.3) in the 65- to 84-years-old group.

For men with non-allergic rhinitis, the incidence rate was more stable among all age groups, ranging from 10.2% (95% CI, 9.3-11.2) in the 20- to 44-years-old group to 11.1% (95% CI, 8.4-13.9) in the 65- to 84-years-old group.

For participants with allergic rhinitis, the incidence rate was similar for both sexes across age groups: the 20- to 44-years-old group had an incidence rate of 26.6% (95% CI, 25.7-27.6), which decreased to 15.6% (95% CI, 13.3-18.0) in the 65- to 84-years-old group, according to the abstract.

Cazzoletti and colleagues noted that in addition to age and sex, risk factors such as smoking status and proximity to industrial plants also influenced non-allergic rhinitis, whereas factors such as being a current smoker lowered the risk and living in a Mediterranean climate increased the risk for developing allergic rhinitis. – by Jeff Craven

Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.