Abstract:

Background: Rhinitis is defined as the inflammation of the nasal membranes and is characterized by a symptom complex of the following sneezing, nasal congestion, nasal itching and rhinorrhea. The eye, ears, sinuses and throat can also be involved. Its incidence is rising with other IgE-mediated diseases to specific allergens such as pollens, molds, animal dander and dust mites and it affected both children and adults.

Objective: To determine the impact of allergic rhinitis on the quality of life of the patients at Bugando Medical Centre.

Methods: This was a descriptive hospital-based cross-sectional study of patients with more than 10 years of age with clinical AR was employed in this study at BMC in Northwestern Tanzania on September 2018. The data was collected using Rhino-conjunctivitis Health Related Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data collected was entered and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 20 program.

Results: This study found that there is association between quality of life and severity of allergic rhinitis with a P value of less than 0.01. And there was relationship between quality of life and sinusitis and oropharyngeal however there were no association between quality of life and ontological comorbidities. Also, nasal symptoms were determined to be the most bothersome symptoms with as reported by 83.8% of patients.

Conclusion: Severity of allergic rhinitis is associated with poor quality of life. Quality of life of patients were associated with sinusitis and oropharyngeal comorbidities. The most bothersome symptoms among patients was found to be nasal symptoms with predominance of recurrent sneezing.