Differences in the Prevalence of Adults with Allergic Rhinitis by Gender

Abstract

In many countries in the world, the prevalence of allergic rhinitis (AR) in adults varies greatly between and within countries. Although it does not cause fatal effects, AR can affect the quality of life both socially and financially. Aims of this research was to determine the differences in the prevalence of adults with AR by gender. This study uses a cross-sectional observational analysis design. The participants were medical students from the University of Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta’s college of medicine that selected by proportionate stratified random sampling, divided into two groups based on male and female sex. Data were col- lected using Score For Allergic Rhinitis (SFAR) questionnaire which distributed to respondents via google form. Shappiro-Wilk is analysis method used for nor- mality test and contingency coefficient test is used to determine the relationship between variables. The prevalence of allergic rhinitis in female was 23.9% and in malewas 8.7%. Therewas a significant differences in the prevalence ofadults with AR between male and female and the p value = 0.028. The highest prevalence of allergic rhinitis was found in the 21 year age group. The most common symptom of allergic rhinitis in male is nasal congestion, but in female is runny nose. Keywords: