[Quality of life in children with bronchial asthma and allergic rhinitis].
The quality of life is a subjective parameter that evaluates the impact of asthma on daily life of the child. The authors evaluated the evolution of the quality of life score in children with persistent asthma and analyzed the impact of association of allergic rhinitis on this parameter. The evaluation of the quality of life was based on a questionnaire with 23 items (PAQLQ), which was applied on 54 children with asthma (35 of them having rhinitis allergic associated to asthma). The quality of life score was evaluated initial and every 3 months, during one year. At the end of the study the authors revealed the improvement of the quality of life score in 87% of children, with significant improvement of the scores for symptoms, activities and emotions (p=0.002). There were no significant differences between the 19 patients with only asthma as compared with the 35 patients that had both asthma and allergic rhinitis either at the beginning of the study (p = 0,19) or after 12 months of follow-up (p = 0,34). In conclusion, allergic rhinitis is frequently associated with asthma in children, but its impact on the quality of life is not significant.