Perceptions of the impact of individual allergic rhinitis symptoms: A survey of ARIA clinical experts
Gil-Mata S., Teixeira T., Bedbrook A., Bousquet J., Sousa-Pinto B., Vieira RJ., Asllani J., Douagui H., Asayag E., Elizabeth CM., Crisci CD., Gomez RM., Ivancevich JC., Jares E., Máspero JF., Moreno P., Neffen HE., Zernotti ME., Bosnic-Anticevich S., Chahhoud Carson K., Cvetkovski B., Davies JM., Kritikos V., O'Hehir R., Oliver B., Tan HR., Tattersall J., Zubrinich C., Aberer W., Niederberger-Leppin V., Pali-Schöll I., Doyen V., Ebo D., Louis R., Rombaux P., Scheire S., Bennoor K., Barreto BA., Camargos P., Chong-Neto HJ., Cruz AA., da Silva J., Marta G., Rizzo JA., Rosario Filho N., Faradiba SS., Solé D., Urrutia-Pereira M., Christoff G., Mariana MP., Cvetanka O., Popov TA., Vicheva D., Teixeira Maria DC., Bouchard J., Brozek J., Chu DK., Denburg J., Eiwegger T., Keith PK., To T., Waserman S., Abusada N., Alvarez Cuesta E., Calvo-Gil MA., Guzmán MA., Pérez Gomez T., Wong Gary WK., Zhang L., Caraballo L., Cepeda Sarabia A., Nyembue D., Soto-Martinez M., Miculinic N., Plavec D., Pitsios C., Yiallouros P., Panzner P., Sova M., Vachova M., Bindslev-Jensen C., Dahl R., Malling HJ., Münter L., Poulsen LK., Charlotte SU., Tannert LK., Mahboub B., Salameh L., Cherrez-Ojeda I., Robles DGK., El-Owaidy RH., El-Sayed ZA., El-Sayed SS., Hossny E., Mostafa BE., Julge K., Billo NE., Eklund P., Erhola M.
Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a highly prevalent disease. We aimed to assess the symptoms that physicians who see patients with AR perceive as the most bothersome in their patients. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study based on an online questionnaire sent to all members of the Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) initiative. The survey included questions on the physicians' perceptions of patients’ AR symptoms as well as of their own AR symptoms. Results: Among 401 respondents, 155 (38.7%) reported having AR. ARIA members reported nasal symptoms to be the most frequent (89.7%) and bothersome (80.0%) symptoms experienced by themselves. Likewise, nasal symptoms were reported by ARIA members as the most frequent (94.8% in members with AR vs 96.0% in members without AR) and bothersome (57.0% in members with AR vs 67.9% in members without AR) in their patients. We found a significant association (p = 0.001) between physicians’ own symptoms and those perceived as the most bothersome in their patients. Conclusion: Physicians perceive nasal symptoms to be the most frequent and the most bothersome symptoms in AR patients. The physicians' personal experiences with AR may influence their perception of patients’ symptoms.