Rhinitis and quality of life

Both seasonal and perennial rhinitis may cause quite severe impairment of HRQL. Since there is a poor correlation between clinical indices of nasal inflammation and HRQL, HRQL must be measured directly and cannot be imputed from the clinical indices. There are valid, disease-specific instruments available for measuring HRQL in both adults and children with rhinitis and therefore these assessments may be included in both clinical trials and clinical practice to evaluate the component of rhinitis that ismost important to the patient.