Rhinitis management: the patient's perspective

Seasonal allergic rhinitis causes considerable impairment of health-related quality of life (HQRL). Generic quality-of-life questionnaires enable a co mparison to be made between patients with different illnesses, but they oft en have insufficient depth to measure specific problems that are important to an individual with a particular condition. In order to overcome these sh ortcomings, the Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (RQLQ) wa s developed. Eighty-nine patients, with a wide range of rhinoconjunctivitis severity, scored a list of 91 problems for importance. The highest-scoring problems were the practical problems: continually having to blow the nose, rub the nose and eyes, and carry tissues. Patients were also bothered by s leep impairments and systemic problems such as tiredness, poor concentratio n and thirst. Questionnaires have also been developed for adolescents (12-1 7 years of age) - finding similar results to those for adults - and childre n (6-12 years of age), who were troubled by their symptoms but did not have the emotional dysfunction experienced by adults and adolescents. All three questionnaires have strong measurement properties and have high reliabilit y and good responsiveness, validity and interpretability. Quality-of-life q uestionnaires can be used in clinical studies to help elucidate which treat ments are preferred by patients and the efficacy of treatment regimens. Dis ease-specific quality-of-life questionnaires can also be used during routin e assessments and may reveal problems not spontaneously volunteered by pati ents, particularly children. Results can also be compared at each clinic vi sit to determine whether each intervention has been beneficial.