title: IQ Score of Children with Persistent or Perennial Allergic Rhinitis: A Comparison with Healthy Children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prevalence of allergies is different around the world. Allergic rhinitis is a common chronic disease in children. Intelligence quotient (IQ) is an indicator of efficacy and many factors including chronic diseases may affect it. This study compares the IQs of children diagnosed with persistent or perennial allergic rhinitis with healthy children.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a comparative study that was conducted from June 2011-May 2013 in an academic referral clinic. In this study, 90 patients aged 6- to 14-yearsold who were diagnosed with persistent or perennial allergic rhinitis and were compared to 90 age and gender match healthy patients from their respective families. The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children was used to divide and calculate overall IQ, verbal IQ, and practical IQ. The t-test and chi square were used to analyze quantitative variables and qualitative variables, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this study, out of total 180 children, 90 (50%) in the case group and 90 children (50%), the control group participated for IQ comparison. One hundred (57%) were male and 80 (43%) were female. The overall IQ for allergic rhinitis patients and healthy patients was 109.2 and 107.5, respectively. This difference was not considered significant. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the IQ scores of males and females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although allergic rhinitis is a chronic disease and effects quality of life, there were no identifiable negative effects on IQ.
authors.affiliation: Allergy & Clinical Immunology Department, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ghaffari
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric Neurolog, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abbaskhanian
authors.affiliation: Masters in Psychology, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Masumeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jalili
authors.affiliation: Department of Biostatistics, Faculty of Health, Mazandaran University of Medical Science, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Jamshid
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yazdani Charati
keywords: Allergic Rhinitis; Children; Intelligence Quotient; Prevalence