Long-term natural course of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis

Introduction
Seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR) is typically characterized by rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, sneezing, and itching of the nose, eyes, ears, and pharynx.

Aim
To evaluate the natural course of the disease in patients diagnosed with SAR.

Material and methods
The study included 191 patients diagnosed with SAR before January 2009 and who were followed up in our clinic. A survey was applied to these 191 between June 2019 and June 2020. Patients were asked to compare their initial symptoms and symptoms in the last year.

Results
The median age of the 191 patients in this study was 35 (range: 22–70 years) and median SAR duration was 15 (range: 10–40 years). The most common disease accompanying SAR was asthma (n = 93, 48.7%). The most common sensitizing allergen was Phleum pratense (n = 180, 94.2%) and the most common symptoms were nasal discharge (n = 178, 93.2%), nasal itching (n = 176, 92.1%), sneezing (n = 182, 95.3%), ocular itching (n = 136, 71.2%) and ocular discharge (n = 129, 67.5%). Over the past year, nasal symptoms increased in 49 (25.7%) patients, decreased in 78 (40.8%) and did not change in 64 (33.5%). Ocular symptoms increased in 26 (18.7%) patients, decreased in 65 (46.7%) and did not change in 48 (34.5%). Nasal symptoms decreased in patients who applied pollen avoidance strategies (p = 0.008).

Conclusions
The natural course of SAR in long-term follow-up is variable. The implementation of effective pollen avoidance measures can reduce the disease severity in patients with SAR in the long term.