European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

CORRELATION BETWEEN SYMPTOMS OF ALLERGIC RHINITIS BY NASAL OBSTRUCTION SYMPTOM EVALUATION (NOSE) SCORE AND ABSOLUTE EOSINOPHIL COUNT – AN OBSERVATIONAL STUDY

Anil Kumar S. Harugop, Paramita Debnath* and Rajesh Radhakrishna Havaldar

ABSTRACT

Allergic rhinitis is a global health problem, it adversely affects the quality of life. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment play an important role in reducing the burden of the disease. Absolute Eosinophil Count is one such method of diagnosis allergic rhinitis which gives prompt results. The Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation score is one the most reliable, faster and responsible instrument that has been used in various outcomes studies in adults with nasal obstruction. It’s uses in diagnosing allergic rhinitis and assessing its severity has not been validated yet. The aim of the study is to assess the correlation between the symptoms of allergic rhinitis by using NOSE score and Absolute Eosinophil Count (AEC). 60 cases of allergic rhinitis were investigated in 6 months by Absolute Eosinophil Count and NOSE score based on their symptoms and assessed for the severity of allergic rhinitis. Following this the correlation between absolute eosinophil count and NOSE score was obtained and positive correlation between Absolute Eosinophil Count and allergic rhinitis with p value of < 0. 0001 was found. Our study suggests that NOSE score provides a framework to diagnose the severity of the symptoms of allergic rhinitis. To conclude NOSE score is an effective tool that can be used to corelate with the severity of allergic rhinitis in clinical set up as an alternative to AEC count. It is faster, economical and non-invasive technique for assessing the severity of allergic rhinitis.

Keywords: Allergic rhinitis, Absolute eosinophil count, NOSE score.