Discrimination between moderate and severe disease may be used in patients with either treated or untreated allergic rhinitis

Background: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common disease with major socioeconomic burden and a significant impact on quality of life.

Objective: The aim of this study was to discriminate between moderate and severe AR patients whether receiving treatment or not, using a modified criterion of allergic rhinitis and its impact on asthma (ARIA) classification.

Methods: The modified ARIA severity classification (J Allergy Clin Immunol, 120, 2007, 359) categorizes AR as mild (no items affected), moderate (1-3 items affected), and severe (all four items affected). We applied these criteria to 1666 treated and 1058 untreated AR patients and compared their symptoms total four-symptom score (T4SS) and quality of life (ESPRINT-15), according to their clinical severity.

Results: Allergic rhinitis clinical status was significantly worse (P < 0.001) in treated than in untreated patients. For both treated and untreated patients, T4SS and ESPRINT-15 Quality of life scores were significantly worse (P < 0.001) in severe than in moderate patients.

Conclusions: The modified ARIA severity classification is a useful clinical tool to discriminate moderate from severe AR among both treated and untreated patients.