Nasal peak inspiratory flow and clinical score in children and adolescents with allergic rhinitis.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the correlation between nasal inspiratory peak flow (NIPF) and clinical scoring in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR).


METHODS
A concurrent cohort study was carried out with 52 randomly selected patients aged six to 16 with moderate and severe persistent allergic rhinitis, and followed up for eight weeks. Measurements of NIPF and clinical score for AR were evaluated in a blinded manner. Correlations between NIPF and clinical scoring were obtained from linear regression using the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Significance level was p < 0.05.


RESULTS
Moderate but statistically significant correlation between NIPF and clinical scoring was found (r = -0.44; p < or = 0.001) and nasal obstruction alone (r = -0.438; p < or = 0.001) were found.


CONCLUSIONS
Results confirm data from studies conducted with adult patients that found weak correlation between allergic rhinitis symptoms and objective measurements of nasal obstruction as NIPF. NIPF and the clinical scoring are complementary tools to evaluate AR patients.
Gomes
Daniela de Lima
Dde L
Department of Pediatrics, Pediatric Pulmonology Section, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
Camargos
Paulo Augusto Moreira
PA
Ibiapina
Cássio da Cunha
Cda C
de Andrade
Cláudia Ribeiro
CR
D000293:Adolescent; D000403:Airway Resistance; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007320:Inspiratory Capacity; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008365:Manometry; D015508:Nasal Obstruction / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012221:Rhinitis, Allergic, Perennial / Q000503:physiopathology*