Objective: Allergic-rhinitis (AR) is an IgE-mediated disease with negative effects on quality-of-life (QoL). Despite suggestive symptoms of AR, nonallergic- rhinitis (NAR) is a chronic condition with unclear characteristics and pathophysiology. The objective of this study was to assess the effect of exposure to allergen on rhinitis symptoms and QoL in patients with NAR.

Materials and Methods: Patients with NAR (n= 25), AR (n= 16), and control group (n= 10) were compared, regarding generic (SF-36), and specific (MiniRQLQ) QoL, Epworth-Sleepiness-Scale (ESS) and nasal-provocation-test (NPT) with house-dustmite.

Results: NPTs were resulted positive in all AR, in 52% of NAR patients and none in control group (p between AR&NAR: < 0.001). Before NPT, social, physical and emotional role domains of SF-36 were lower in NAR group than control group, whereas patients with AR had impairment only in social scores. NAR group had impairment in the general, activity limitation, practical problems and nasal symptoms of MiniRQLQ, while patients with AR had impairment in the general and nasal symptom scores of MiniRQLQ. Results of EUS were similar and in normal levels in all groups. After NPTs, the only change in QoL questionnaires was the impairment in the energy score of SF-36 in NAR group compared to others (p= 0.02).

Conclusion: This study showed the impact of rhinitis on QoL was more prominent in NAR patients than AR. Furthermore, after exposure to allergen, rhinitis symptoms devepoed in some of the patients with NAR may be a reflection of atopy. The impact of NPT with allergen on QoL was negligible.