Prevalence of allergic rhinitis among asthmatic children living in Greater Cairo, Egypt

Background Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects children and adolescents. Asthma and rhinitis often co-exist as united airway diseases, as such that the upper airway and the lower airway form a single organ, and both conditions can impact each other. Purpose To estimate the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) among a group of Egyptian asthmatic children and to determine the impact of AR on the degree of asthma control. Patients and methods The present study is a cross–sectional study which was conducted at the allergy clinic, Children Hospital, Cairo University. It included 150 Egyptian asthmatic children aged 2–16 years, Living in Greater Cairo, diagnosed with asthma according to GINA guidelines 2020. Patients with Acute asthma exacerbation were excluded. All patients were subjected to the following: 1. Detailed history taking, full examination especially chest examination. 2. Study questionnaire: the first part of it was applied to all patients to determinate the level of asthma control and the second part of the questionnaire utilized the score for allergic rhinitis questionnaire adapted for children to diagnose AR. Results This cross–sectional study was conducted at allergy clinic of Cairo University Children’s Specialized Hospital. It included 150 Egyptian asthmatic patients, their age ranged from 1 to 13 years with Median age of 6 years. Fifty-seven patients (38%) were females and 93 patients (62%) were males. Positive family history of atopy was reported in 38% of patients. Modified score for allergic rhinitis score detected that 79.3% of asthmatic children had AR. Allergic conjunctivitis was significantly more frequent in patients with aR ( P =0.001). We also found that Asthma control levels were significantly lower in asthmatic patients with associated AR compared with those without AR ( P =0.29). Conclusion There is a high prevalence of AR in asthmatic patients (79.3%) and Asthma control levels were significantly lower in asthmatic patients with associated AR.