Analysis of patient factors associated with hospital visits for allergic rhinitis in Japanese adult patients: A cross-sectional study

Wataru Morii; Rieko Ii; Emiko Noguchi; Taeko Watanabe; Nanako Tamiya

doi:10.1016/j.anl.2021.03.026

Analysis of patient factors associated with hospital visits for allergic rhinitis in Japanese adult patients: A cross-sectional study

Auris Nasus Larynx. 2021 Dec;48(6):1099-1104. doi: 10.1016/j.anl.2021.03.026. Epub 2021 Apr 28.

Authors

Wataru Morii¹, Rieko Ii², Emiko Noguchi³, Taeko Watanabe⁴, Nanako Tamiya⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan.
² Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
³ Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan. Electronic address: enoguchi@md.tsukuba.ac.jp.
⁴ Health Services Research and Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
⁵ Health Services Research and Development Center, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan; Department of Health Services Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.

PMID: 33933293
DOI: 10.1016/j.anl.2021.03.026

Abstract

Objective: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is one of the most common diseases in Japan. However, several AR patients do not seek optimal treatments at clinics/hospitals. This may affect the patient's quality of life and labor productivity. In this study, we assessed the characteristics of the outpatients' AR and factors associated with their hospital visit, using the dataset obtained from a nation-wide survey in Japan.

Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we used data from the nation-wide 2013 and 2016 Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions (CSLC) in Japan. We analyzed the data of AR outpatients through logistic regression, using the outcome as the dependent variable, and age groups, sex, household size, educational status, smoking history, alcohol use, household expenditure, psychological distress, quality of sleep, asthma and atopic dermatitis outpatients as explanatory variables.

Results: Among the data of 317,984 outpatients aged between 20 and 79 years in 2016 CSLC survey, the proportion of AR outpatients was significantly less among current smokers (odds ratio (OR); 0.47, 95% confidence interval (CI); 0.43-0.51, P < 0.001) and those with large household sizes (OR; 0.80, 95% CI; 0.72-0.89, P < 0.001). Conversely, the proportion of AR outpatients was significantly more among subjects with a past smoking habit (OR; 1.19, 95% CI; 1.08-1.31, P < 0.001), insufficient sleep (OR; 2.93, 95% CI; 2.52-3.42, P < 0.001), psychological distress (OR; 1.71, 95% CI; 1.62-1.80, P < 0.001), high household expenditures (OR; 1.68, 95% CI; 1.56-1.80, P < 0.001), and asthma and atopic dermatitis outpatients (OR; 8.97, 95% CI; 8.13-9.89 P < 0.001 for asthma and OR; 7.61, 95% CI; 6.76-8.58 P < 0.001 for atopic dermatitis). We observed the same trend using the dataset of 2013 CLSC survey.

Conclusion: This study revealed that smoking habit, psychological distress, insufficient sleep, high household expenditures and outpatients with other allergic diseases are the factors associated with AR outpatient visit.

Keywords: Allergic rhinitis; Cross-sectional study; Japan; Psychological stress.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Ambulatory Care / statistics & numerical data*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Datasets as Topic
Female
Health Surveys
Hospitals
Humans
Japan / epidemiology
Logistic Models
Male
Middle Aged
Outpatients
Patient Acceptance of Health Care / statistics & numerical data*
Quality of Life
Rhinitis, Allergic* / epidemiology
Rhinitis, Allergic* / psychology
Risk Factors
Smoking / adverse effects