Spreading and impact of the World Health Organization's Allergic Rhinitis and its impact on asthma guidelines in everyday medical practice in France. Ernani survey.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to determine the spreading level of the WHO-ARIA (World Health Organization's Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma) guidelines among the medical community and their influence on medical practices.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study based on a questionnaire was performed between April and July 2005 on randomly chosen general practitioners (GPs) (943) and ear, nose and throat (ENT) physicians (277).


RESULTS
About 54.4% of the physicians claimed to know the WHO-ARIA guidelines and 49.7% said they followed them. These results vary significantly, mainly according to medical specialty (ENT vs. GP). In comparison to those who did not know the guidelines, their patients benefited more frequently (P<0.0001) from allergen search (42.2% vs. 31.7%), a nasal endoscopy (38.3% vs. 26.0%), a follow-up consultation (64.9% vs. 52.6%) and written information on rhinitis (30.7% vs. 14.1%). Paradoxically, they do not search more frequently for asthma and do not provide different first-line treatment strategy and duration.
Demoly
P
P
Allergy Department, University Hospital of Montpellier and Inserm U657, Hôpital Arnaud-de-Villeneuve, 34295 Montpellier Cedex 05, France.
Concas
V
V
Urbinelli
R
R
Allaert
F-A
FA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001249:Asthma / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003625:Data Collection; D005194:Family Practice / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005602:France; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012130:Respiratory Hypersensitivity / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000628:therapy*; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D006255:Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D013038:Specialization; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014944:World Health Organization; D055815:Young Adult