Evaluation of children with allergic and non-allergic rhinitis and the effect of obesity/overweight in patients with allergic rhinitis

Aims: Allergic rhinitis (AR) and obesity are two of the most prevalent chronic health diseases in children. This report aims to investigate to types of allergic and non-allergic rhinitis (NAR) and the association between the frequency and severity of rhinitis symptoms in AR patients with and without overweight/obesity. Methods: Patients aged 5-18 years with rhinitis symptoms who were referred to Sincan Training and Research Hospital pediatric immunology and allergy outpatient clinic were retrospectively evaluated. Demographic, clinical and laboratory characteristics of patients were recorded. Results: The study included 385 children with a median age of 11 years (IQR8-14) (53.5% males). 31 (8.1%) of patients had atopic dermatitis and 22 (5.7 %) of patients had asthma. 283 (73.5%) patients were in the AR group. Total IgE level and eosinophil count were found significantly higher in AR group [256 (113-995) vs. 280 (160-480)] than NAR group [64 (25.5-210) vs. 170 (90-310)] (p=0.002 vs. p=