For Publishers
DiscoveryMetadataPeer reviewHostingPublishing
For Researchers
JoinPublishReviewCollect
Register
Blog
About
Search
Advanced search
My ScienceOpen
Search
For Publishers
For Researchers
Blog
About
7
views
36
references
 Top references
cited by
8
    
0 reviews
 Review
0
comments
 Comment
0
recommends
+1 Recommend
0 collections
    0
    shares
      328
      similar
       All similar
      • Record: found
      • Abstract: found
      • Article: found
      Is Open Access

      Allergic Rhinitis and Its Epidemiological Distribution in Syria: A High Prevalence and Additional Risks in War Time

      research-article

      Read this article at

      ScienceOpenPublisherPMC
      Bookmark
          There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.

          Abstract

          Background

          Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a global disease that affects a huge proportion of people around the world especially in the Middle East, where multiple allergy-promoting factors can be found. Although AR is not fatal, it severely affects the quality of life. However, it is usually overlooked in developing countries due to resource scarcity.

          Methods

          An online questionnaire on social media was used which included demographics, smoking, socioeconomic-status (SES), war-related questions, and the score for allergic rhinitis (SFAR), a simple self-reporting tool with the cut-off point at 7. Findings. This study included 968 subjects with 721 (74.5%) females. The mean age was 24.69 years with AR prevalence at 47.9%. AR was associated with male gender [ P = 0.001 (OR, 1.677; 95% CI 1.249-2.253)], having a job [ P = 0.049 (OR, 1.309; 95% CI 1.001-1.713)], the having a chronic medical condition ( P < 0.0001) mainly other allergies [ P < 0.0001 (OR, 9.199; 95% CI 3.836-22.063)] and asthma [ P = 0.006 (OR, 5.060; 95% CI 1.396-18.342)], using medications ( P < 0.0001) and living in particular provinces ( P = 0.010). However, no significant correlation was found with type of work and war factors except being distressed by war sounds [ P = 0.027 (OR, 1.348; 95% CI 1.034-1.757)]. Finally, no associations were found with age, consanguinity, SES, educational level, and cigarette or/and shisha smoking ( P > 0.05). Interpretation. Approximately half of the sample displayed AR symptoms, indicating a potentially high burden of AR in the community. A correlation to being distressed from war noises was found with AR which could reflect a psychological aspect. In addition, in war harmful allergens are released which can be an additional AR risk factor which adds to the environment in the Middle East that is associated with AR. However, we need further studies to discover and minimize this huge prevalence of AR.

          Related collections

          Most cited references36

          • Record: found
          • Abstract: found
          • Article: found
          Is Open Access

          Sublingual immunotherapy: World Allergy Organization position paper 2013 update

          Giorgio Canonica, Linda Cox, Ruby Pawankar … (2014)
          We have prepared this document, “Sublingual Immunotherapy: World Allergy Organization Position Paper 2013 Update”, according to the evidence-based criteria, revising and updating chapters of the originally published paper, “Sublingual Immunotherapy: World Allergy Organization Position Paper 2009”, available at http://www.waojournal.org. Namely, these comprise: “Mechanisms of sublingual immunotherapy;” “Clinical efficacy of sublingual immunotherapy” – reporting all the data of all controlled trials published after 2009; “Safety of sublingual immunotherapy” – with the recently published Grading System for adverse reactions; “Impact of sublingual immunotherapy on the natural history of respiratory allergy” – with the relevant evidences published since 2009; “Efficacy of SLIT in children” – with detailed analysis of all the studies; “Definition of SLIT patient selection” – reporting the criteria for eligibility to sublingual immunotherapy; “The future of immunotherapy in the community care setting”; “Methodology of clinical trials according to the current scientific and regulatory standards”; and “Guideline development: from evidence-based medicine to patients' views” – including the evolution of the methods to make clinical recommendations. Additionally, we have added new chapters to cover a few emerging crucial topics: “Practical aspects of schedules and dosages and counseling for adherence” – which is crucial in clinical practice for all treatments; “Perspectives and new approaches” – including recombinant allergens, adjuvants, modified allergens, and the concept of validity of the single products. Furthermore, “Raising public awareness about sublingual immunotherapy”, as a need for our patients, and strategies to increase awareness of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) among patients, the medical community, all healthcare stakeholders, and public opinion, are also reported in detail.
          Article 0 comments Cited 141 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
            Bookmark
            • Record: found
            • Abstract: found
            • Article: not found

            A survey of the burden of allergic rhinitis in Europe.

            G W Canonica, Jean Bousquet, Joaquim Mullol … (2006)
            The perceptions of patients and physicians regarding the symptoms and impact of allergic rhinitis (AR) were assessed in a prospective, cross-sectional, international survey. This paper presents the combined survey results from five European countries (Germany, France, Italy, Spain and the UK). Data were recorded by 1,482 patients and matched with records from 415 primary care physicians and specialists. Diagnostic tests to confirm AR had been performed on 1,279 (86.3%) patients. Both physicians and patients recorded the presence, severity and impact of symptoms at the time of consultation in addition to those symptoms frequently, but not currently, present. Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) was assessed using the Mini Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire. A large proportion of patients had moderate-severe disease (67.2%; n = 996), persistent disease (42.5%; n = 630) and comorbidities such as asthma (31.5%; n = 467). Overall, patients rated their disease as more severe than did physicians (P < 0.001). At the time of the consultation, one-third of all patients reported that their current nasal and ocular symptoms were moderate or severe in nature. According to the physicians' assessment, good control of nasal and ocular symptoms was achieved in 45.4% (n = 673) and 51.3% (n = 760) of patients, respectively, and poor symptom control in 18.0% (n = 267) and 12.1% (n = 179). Overall, 43.3% (n = 641) of those surveyed were using two or more medicines for their AR. Health-related quality of life was correlated with disease severity and with the number of days without symptoms in the previous 4 weeks. Allergic rhinitis had a significantly greater impact in patients with more persistent disease than in those with intermittent disease (2.3 +/- 1.3 vs 1.9 +/- 1.2; P < 0.001). Nonetheless, 81.8% (n = 601) of patients with intermittent disease reported some impairment of their daily life as a result of their AR. Allergic rhinitis remains a significant health problem because of the high burden of symptoms and its impact on general well being and HRQoL among patients consulting for this condition. Overall, there was a poor correlation between patients and physicians in the reporting of disease severity.
            Article 0 comments Cited 88 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
              Bookmark
              • Record: found
              • Abstract: found
              • Article: not found

              A systematic review of socioeconomic position in relation to asthma and allergic diseases.

              Eleonora Uphoff, Báltica Cabieses, Mariona Pinart … (2015)
              The role of socioeconomic position (SEP) in the development of asthma and allergies is unclear, with some pointing to the risks of low SEP and other research pointing in the direction of higher SEP being associated with higher prevalence rates. The aim of this systematic review is to clarify associations between SEP and the prevalence of asthma and allergies. Out of 4407 records identified, 183 were included in the analysis. Low SEP was associated with a higher prevalence of asthma in 63% of the studies. Research on allergies, however, showed a positive association between higher SEP and illness in 66% of studies. Pooled estimates for the odds ratio of disease for the highest compared with the lowest SEP confirmed these results for asthma (unadjusted OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.37-1.39), allergies in general (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.62-0.72), atopic dermatitis (unadjusted OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.61-0.83) and allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (unadjusted OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.46-0.59). Sensitivity analyses with a subsample of high-quality studies led to the same conclusion. Evidence from this systematic review suggests that asthma is associated with lower SEP, whereas the prevalence of allergies is associated with higher SEP.
              Article 0 comments Cited 81 times – based on 0 reviews     Review now
                Bookmark
                All references

                Author and article information

                Contributors
                Ameer Kakaje:
                ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3949-6109
                Journal
                Journal ID (nlm-ta): Biomed Res Int
                Journal ID (iso-abbrev): Biomed Res Int
                Journal ID (publisher-id): BMRI
                Title: BioMed Research International
                Publisher: Hindawi
                ISSN (Print): 2314-6133
                ISSN (Electronic): 2314-6141
                Publication date Collection: 2020
                Publication date (Electronic): 23 May 2020
                Volume: 2020
                Electronic Location Identifier: 7212037
                Affiliations
                Faculty of medicine, Damascus University, Damascus, Syria
                Author notes

                Academic Editor: Luisa Brussino

                Author information
                https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3949-6109
                Article
                DOI: 10.1155/2020/7212037
                PMC ID: 7273446
                SO-VID: 5373e544-1145-4a4a-9ab1-aa88c2bdeedc
                Copyright © Copyright © 2020 Ameer Kakaje et al.
                License:

                This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                Date received : 13 January 2020
                Date revision received : 10 March 2020
                Date accepted : 28 April 2020
                Categories
                Subject: Research Article

                Data availability:

                Comments

                Comment on this article

                scite_

                Similar content328

                See all similar

                Cited by8

                See all cited by

                Most referenced authors780

                See all reference authors