title: Prevalence of chronic rhinitis in Thai patients with obstructive sleep disordered breathing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To prospectively identify the prevalence of chronic rhinitis (CR) and findings from objective nasal airway evaluation in Thai patients with obstructive sleep disordered breathing (OSDB) in a sleep clinic.
  
  
  METHODS
  Seventy patients, 44 males and 26females, with OSDB were recruited. All were asked to complete Epworth sleepiness scale (ESS), questionnaires regarding nasal symptoms including scores to assess the severity of CR, and objective nasal airway measurements. Nasal airway resistance (NAR) was measured by active anterior rhinomanometry and nasal volume and minimal cross-sectional area (MCA) were measured by acoustic rhinometry (before topical decongestion).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fifty-nine patients (84.3%) had a history of nasal obstruction, rhinorrhea, sneezing, and itching of either intermittent or persistent pattern, regardless of severity, for more than one month. Forty-six patients (65.7%) had active symptom of nasal obstruction. About 23% of patients had NAR higher than and 33% had MCA lower than 1 SD from the mean of normative values in healthy Asians. Both subjective and objective nasal parameters did not have a statistically significant correlation with the scores of ESS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A substantial proportion of patients with OSDB in the sleep clinic had co-existing CR symptoms and a tendency to be abnormal in objective nasal parameters when compared to general population. Careful history recording and a thorough evaluation of the nasal airway are, therefore, essential in these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department ofOto-Rhino-Laryngology, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand.
authors.forename: Paraya
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Assanasen
authors.forename: Wish
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Banhiran
authors.forename: Noppong
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kositchaiwat
authors.forename: Chaweewan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bunnag
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012220:Rhinitis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D025363:Rhinomanometry; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020181:Sleep Apnea, Obstructive / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology