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Background: Both asthma and allergic rhinitis are well-known diseases to cause burden in the daily life of patients. Since they are mostly comorbid, it is difficult to discriminate between them regarding their individual impacts on quality of life. The aim of our study was to compare asthma and allergic rhinitis in terms of quality of life so that the impairment of each disease on quality of life can be distinguished.
Methods: In a university hospital, 93 patients with asthma and 98 patients with allergic rhinitis, each without any other comorbid condition, were engaged in this study as subjects. Health-related quality of life was measured by Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form General Health Survey 36 (MOS SF-36).
Results: The allergic rhinitis group had a lower mean score than the asthma group in the social function domain. In the physical function and role limitation due to physical problems domains, the asthma group scored lower than the allergic rhinitis group. The allergic rhinitis group had a better perception of general health than the asthma group. The physical summary score was lower in the asthma group than in the rhinitis group, whereas the mental summary score was not different between the two groups.
Conclusions: In asthma, impairments on quality of life of patients mostly concern physical incapability, whereas in allergic rhinitis these concern social withdrawal. Clinicians must pay special attention to these features in order to help patients in their daily life.