title: A survey of clinical features of allergic rhinitis in adults.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Allergic rhinitis (AR) has high prevalence and substantial socio-economic burden.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 35 Italian Centers recruiting an overall number of 3383 adult patients with rhinitis (48% males, 52% females, mean age 29.1, range 18-45 years). For each patient, the attending physician had to fill in a standardized questionnaire, covering, in particular, some issues such as the ARIA classification of allergic rhinitis (AR), the results of skin prick test (SPT), the kind of treatment, the response to treatment, and the satisfaction with treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of the 3383 patients with rhinitis, 2788 (82.4%) had AR: 311 (11.5%) had a mild intermittent, 229 (8.8%) a mild persistent, 636 (23.5%) a moderate-severe intermittent, and 1518 (56.1%) a moderate-severe persistent form. The most frequently used drugs were oral antihistamines (77.1%) and topical corticosteroids (60.8%). The response to treatment was judged as excellent in 12.2%, good in 41.3%, fair in 31.2%, poor in 14.5%, and very bad in 0.8% of subjects. The rate of treatment dissatisfaction was significantly higher in patients with moderate-to-severe AR than in patients with mild AR (p<0.0001). Indication to allergen immunotherapy (AIT) was significantly more frequent (p<0.01) in patients with severe AR than with mild AR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings confirm the appropriateness of ARIA guidelines in classifying the AR patients and the association of severe symptoms with unsuccessful drug treatment. The optimal targeting of patients to be treated with AIT needs to be reassessed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Scientific, Stallergenes, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Franco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Frati
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Scientific, Stallergenes, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Dell'Albani
authors.affiliation: Allergy and Respiratory Diseases, University Department of Internal Medicine, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Giovanni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Passalacqua
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bonini
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedicine, AOUC, University of Florence, Florence, Italy.
authors.forename: Oliviero
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Allergy Unit, Verona General Hospital, Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Gianenrico
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Senna
authors.affiliation: Allergy/Pulmonary Rehabilitation Unit, ICP Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Cristoforo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Incorvaia
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003625:Data Collection; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D065631:Rhinitis, Allergic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012882:Skin Tests; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult