Allergic rhinitis and asthma: a large cross-sectional study in the United Arab Emirates

Studies on comorbidity of allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma have been carried out in developed countries; however, data from countries in development transition are lacking.

In a randomly selected, age-stratified cohort of adolescent school children and their caretakers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), comorbidity of AR and asthma was calculated using multinomial regression to determine independent risk factors.

A total of 6,543 subjects were included in the study; the median age was 30 years (range 8-93), and 52% were males. The standardized prevalence of concomitant asthma and AR was 7.3%. AR subjects had a 3-fold increased risk of asthma compared to subjects without AR (23.8 and 7.5%, respectively). Immigrants had a significantly lower prevalence of comorbidity of AR and asthma [adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.53, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.33-0.85] compared to UAE nationals, while greater age carried a lower risk (adjusted OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.44-0.78), but a family history of both AR (adjusted OR 3.03, 95% CI 2.31-3.98) and asthma (adjusted OR 4.65, 95% CI 3.53-6.12) was strongly associated with the co-occurrence of these 2 conditions, while gender and education were not. Asthma patients with AR had more severe symptoms than those without, i.e. 'dry cough at night' in 65 versus 36%, β-mimeticum use in 42 versus 30%, and steroid use in 25 versus 13%, respectively.

Comorbidity of asthma and AR in the UAE is high, with a prevalence of 7.3%. Both the underlying reasons and possibilities for better prevention now need to be focused on in future research.