Allergic rhinitis in asthmatics

The incidence of sleep disorders in patients with inflammatory diseases of the upper airways is not negligible. Some studies have shown that nasal obstruction and congestion which are more marked at night are responsible for an increase in nasal resistance particularly in the supine position and could explain the poor quality of sleep in patients with rhinitis. The more persistent and severe the rhinitis the greater the impact on sleep. However local symptoms alone do not explain all sleep problems. Identifying and treating these sleep disorders is becoming a priority not only to improve these patients'' SQ but also to control their asthmatic disease with the least possible therapeutic burden. Some authors have taken an interest in assessing sleep quality by evaluating different sleep questionnaires in order to determine the most sensitive and specific ones. However few studies have looked at the obstructive apnoea syndrome in cases of allergic rhinitis either isolated or associated with asthma.