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Kemal Kef,1 Selis Güven2 1Department of ENT, Private Kesan Hospital, Edirne, Turkey; 2Department of ENT, Trakya University School of Medicine, Edirne, TurkeyCorrespondence: Kemal KefDepartment of ENT, Private Kesan Hospital, Edirne, TurkeyTel +90 532 701 70 86Email dr.kemalkef@gmail.comIntroduction: Allergic rhinitis is a common disease in Turkey. However, there are not enough studies on its prevalence. Survey-based studies conducted by experienced and qualified researchers to large populations provide information about the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and risk factors associated with it.Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of allergic rhinitis and related factors in university students in Anatolia.Methods: An extended and modified form of “The European Community Respiratory Health Survey” was conducted to university students in Turkey. The data were obtained through a face-to-face interview method. R version 4.0.2 was used for statistical analysis. Data were presented as frequency and percentage. Chi-squared test of independence was used to analyze the relationship between allergic rhinitis diagnosis and other variables. Statistically significant variables were further analyzed with multivariate logistic regression test.Results: Data was collected from a total of 2020 participants, but 1714 participants were eligible for multivariate analysis. The mean age of the participants was 20.71 ± 3.12 years; 42.88 (n= 735) were male, and 57.12% (n= 979) were female. While the rate of those who thought that they had nasal allergies was 23.862% (n = 409), the rate of those diagnosed by a doctor was 15.986% (n = 274). The most common allergic symptom in the participants was sneezing, and the most common triggering factor was house dust.Conclusion: We found a high prevalence of 15.986% doctor diagnosed allergic rhinitis among university students in Anatolia. Genetic, environmental and economic factors were associated with high prevalence of allergic rhinitis.Keywords: allergic rhinitis, allergy, epidemiology, prevalence, questionnaire, Anatolia |
