HEALTH-RELATED QUALITY-OF-LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH ALLERGIC RHINUSITIS: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY IN VIETNAM

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the health-related quality of life in patients with AR within the Vietnamese
context.
Methods: This study was conducted in the form of a cross-sectional research approach. The
inclusion criterion was set in such a way that the participants were expected to be patients aged 10
and above. also, the participants were expected to be or have experienced AR symptoms; including
itchy nose, constant sneezing, rhinorrhea, and nasal congestion – for at least four days per week,
extending to four or more consecutive weeks. Conducted between March and August 2017, the
study relied on the RQLQ as a research instrument.
Results: Out of 146 AR patients whose results were deemed significant and worth considering in
the Vietnamese context, 38.0% of the responses had their results demonstrate that they exhibited a
mildly affected quality of life, with the rest of the individuals (62%) found to exhibit a severely
influenced quality of life. It was also evident that for patients who experienced severe intermittent
AR, when P was set at P<0.05, the majority exhibited a significant reduction in their quality of life.
Notably, this study did not find a statistically significant correlation between the gender of the
participants and the quality of life in the Vietnamese AR patients; with P found to be P<0.4560.
Conclusion: This study’s findings demonstrated that there is a significant correlation between
disease severity and the quality of life in AR patients within Vietnam. In situations, where patients
were reported to exhibit severe intermittent or permanent disease, the results demonstrated that
they were more likely to experience poor health-related quality of life. As such, it was inferred that
AR severity and its associated symptoms compromise the mental and physical well-being of the
patients, hence their quality of life. The implication for Vietnam’s healthcare system is that AR poses
adverse effects on the patients’ daily activities, mood, and sleep quality