Background: Study of allergic rhinitis (AR) has only recently started in Saudi Arabia. No estimate of the actual percent of the population suffering from AR, especially children, is available.
Objective: To study the prevalence of AR in children in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the association with hearing impairment (HI) and bronchial asthma.
Methods: An epidemiological survey was carried out using a modified "International study of asthma and allergies in childhood" (ISAAC) questionnaire for rhinitis phase1. The children with allergic history were subjected to allergy work up. Ten thousand children were surveyed and the clinical history of rhinitis (sneezing, rhinorrhea, irritation, nasal blockage) during the past 12 months was recorded. In total, 9540 children with complete data were interviewed. Demographic characteristics including age, sex, parents' relation, and family history were noted and an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) examination and hearing screening was performed.
Results: We identified 2529 children with rhinitis (prevalence 26.51%), 25.66% of them with physician diagnosed asthma. Laboratory tests were performed on blood samples from 304 children. A skin prick test with relevant allergens was performed on those aged 6 to 15 years: 61.8% had positive results to one or more allergens, compared to 23.75% in a non-rhinitis control group. HI was found in 450 (17.8%) of the rhinitis group compared to 791 (12.7%) among the non-rhinitis group.
Conclusions: Compared with previous studies in Saudi Arabia, this survey showed higher rates of allergic disease. HI was also found to be higher among rhinitis children. This could be attributed to environmental, social or genetic factors.