Razi Journal of Medical Sciences

Background: Chronic sinusitis is one of the most common diseases in childhood that can lead to a lot of complications. Many risk factors are considered to be responsible for the disease. An allergic disorder seems to be one of the most important risk factors. The role of allergic disorders in chronic sinusitis is currently unclear. Also no comprehensive study has been done yet in our country. Therefore in this study the prevalence of allergic disorders in children with chronic sinusitis had been evaluated.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was done in children between 3-14 years old (mean age 6.98 +/- 2.9) with signs and symptoms of chronic sinusitis, who had referred to infectious & immunologic clinics of pediatric Hospital of Amir Kola in years of 2011-2012. 120 individuals were considered for our study, the sampling was done randomly. Population was divided by age into three groups (1-4 years, 5-9and, 10-14 years old). The data were collected by Questionnaire and check list and analyzed by SPSS 20 software and the appropriate statistical tests (T-test, Chi square).

Results: The prevalence of children with chronic sinusitis were identified in each age group as following: (1-4) 31 (25.8%), (5-9) 67 (55.8%) and (10-14) was 22 (18.3%). There were 79 males (65.8%) and 41 females (34.2%) in the total population. Seasonal distribution was evaluated in this study as following: spring 31 (25.8%), summer 16 (13.3%), fall 37 (30.8%) and winter 36 (30%). Prevalence of allergic rhinitis in the general population was 30.0%, Asthma’s prevalence was 17.5% and the prevalence of atopic dermatitis was 0% in our study. The overall prevalence of allergic disorders was 36.66%, among which 10.83% of the total population had both asthma and allergic rhinitis and 25.83% had just one of them. There was no significant association between asthma and the age, sex or season (p<0.05). Relationship between allergic rhinitis and the mentioned factors was irrelevant as well.

Conclusion: Our study showed that the prevalence of chronic sinusitis in the (5-9 years) age group, males and the fall season is more. Allergic rhinitis had the most prevalence among allergic disorders; asthma was the second most common. It seems diagnosis and treatment of these diseases can be helpful in prevention and the development of chronic sinusitis.