Abstract
Objective: We compared non-smoking subjects and those with different smoking habits to determine whether the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (rhinitis) differed among them.
Methods: Our subjects were 9,733 men and 3,071 women who had undergone an annual health check-up. Information regarding lifestyle habits, medicines taken regularly, and past and present illnesses was obtained using a self-reported questionnaire.
Results: The prevalence of rhinitis was 10.5, 14.5, 10.6, 9.7, 5.8, and 3.7% in the subjects overall, non-smokers, past smokers, and smokers who smoked 1-19, 20-39, and 40 or more cigarettes per day, respectively. Multiple regression analysis revealed that rhinitis was associated with smoking and age, but not with body-mass index, alcohol consumption, and exercise frequency. After being adjusted for age, the odds ratios of the prevalence of rhinitis in past smokers, and smokers who smoked 1-19, 20-39, and 40 or more cigarettes per day were 0.76, 0.64, 0.38, and 0.25, respectively. All of these odds ratios were significantly lower than for non-smokers. The prevalence of rhinitis in women was 14.7%, which was significantly higher than that in men. However, there was no difference between men and women when only non-smokers were analyzed.
Conclusion: The prevalence of rhinitis was negatively associated with the level of smoking. The difference in prevalence between men and women could be a result of variation in the amount of smoking.
