Prick-tests results in chronic rhinitis in southern Tunisia.

Introduction: Chronic rhinitis (CR) is dominated by allergic rhinitis (AR) whose frequency continues to increase. Allergic rhinitis is a public health problem. The distribution of pneumallergens varies according to countries and regions. The epidemiology of pneumallergens, as well as their role in respiratory pathology, remain poorly known in the southern region of Tunisia.

Aim: To evaluate the prevalence of skin-tests positivity of patients with CR in a region of southern Tunisia, to identify the main pneumallergens and to look for an epidemiological and clinical prediction of AR.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with CD and residing in Sfax, performed in the ENT department of Habib Bourguiba hospital over a period of 2 years (2015-2017).

Results: We collected 300 patients. The diagnosis of AR was retained in 109 patients (36.3%). Mites were the most common allergens (67%) followed by dander (38.5%) and olive pollen (31.2%). Study in uni-variate analysis retained young age, presence of drug allergy, frequent sneezing, nasal hyperreactivity triad, nasal pruritus, and pharyngeal signs as predictors of AR. Multivariate analysis included age≤ 30 years (p = 0.005), frequent sneezing (p = 0.005), and pharyngeal signs (p = 0.01).

Conclusion: AR is a common pathology in the Sfax region that mainly affects young people with signs of nasal hyperresponsiveness. The accessibility of the most common pneumallergens to eviction measures opens a better perspective of management.