Caracterización epidemiológica clínica y de laboratorio de la rinitis alérgica y no alérgica en pacientes jóvenes menores de 25 años atendidos en el Hospital Clínica Kennedy de la ciudad de Guayaquil, Ecuador durante el periodo de julio 2020 y marzo 2021.

Abstract

Introduction: Rhinitis is a chronic and disabling disease that is very frequent worldwide, adolescents and young people are the most affected age group. In our environment there are no recent studies that indicate the prevalence of rhinitis in this group of patients; despite being one of the most frequent reasons for consultation in otolaryngology services. Objective: To characterize allergic and non-allergic rhinitis from an epidemiological, clinical and laboratory point of view in young patients under 25 years of age. Methodology: Cross-sectional study carried out in 879 patients under 25 years of age who attended the consultation of Dr. Carlos Durango at the Hospital Clinica Kennedy with clinical manifestations of rhinitis between July 2020 to March 2021 in the city of Guayaquil. Results: 879 patients attended the otolaryngology consultation. 519 (59%) were women and 360 (41%) were men. It was evidenced that 668 (76%) of the study participants came believing they had underlying allergic rhinitis. The mean age of the study participants was 19.75  3.85 years. A serum IgE determination was performed on the entire study population, through which the diagnosis of allergic rhinitis was confirmed in 202 (23.10%) patients. Regarding age, the most affected group was those over 21 years of age, corresponding to a total of 118 (28.30%) patients. On the other hand, 490 (73.35%) of the patients who attended the consultation believing they had allergic rhinitis had serum IgE values in normal ranges. Conclusion: It was determined that non-allergic rhinitis was more frequent than allergic rhinitis. Furthermore, regardless of the type of rhinitis, the study population most affected were those over 21 years of age.