COMPARISON OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS AND VASOMOTOR RHINITIS PATIENTS ON THE BASIS OF A COMPUTER QUESTIONNAIRE

From 1 July 1990 to 31 December 1991, all patients referred to the All ergy Section of the ENT Department, University Hospital, Lund, Sweden, (n = 678) answered a 134-item questionnaire presented on the screen o f a personal computer by pressing Y (for yes) or N (for no) on the key board. The objective of this study was to compare the questionnaire re sponses from patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) with those of patien ts with perennial nonallergic rhinitis or vasomotor rhinitis (VMR). Na sal blockage was the predominant symptom in the VMR group, whereas the AR patients mainly suffered from eye irritation, sneezing, and, to so me extent, rhinorrhea. Concomitant asthma was more prevalent in the AR group than in the VMR group, whose histories were characterized by sy mptoms associated with airway infections. About 60% of both groups rep orted problems with such nonspecific airway irritants as cigarette smo ke and perfumes. With respect to the diagnostic reliability of the his tory, in the AR group the order of accuracy (according to the skin pri ck test results) of reported hypersensitivity to allergens was as foll ows: cat>timothy>birch>dust mite > mugwort. A history of hypersensitiv ity to molds as a cause of symptoms was of no diagnostic value. The fi ndings suggest that there are several differences in the medical histo ries of AR and VMR patients that merit