OBJECTIVE: To assess the correlation between nasal inspiratory peak flow (NIPF) and clinical scoring in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS: A concurrent cohort study was carried out with 52 randomly selected patients aged six to 16 with moderate and severe persistent allergic rhinitis, and followed up for eight weeks. Measurements of NIPF and clinical score for AR were evaluated in a blinded manner. Correlations between NIPF and clinical scoring were obtained from linear regression using the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Significance level was p < 0.05. RESULTS: Moderate but statistically significant correlation between NIPF and clinical scoring was found (r = -0.44; p < or = 0.001) and nasal obstruction alone (r = -0.438; p < or = 0.001) were found. CONCLUSION: Results confirm data from studies conducted with adult patients that found weak correlation between allergic rhinitis symptoms and objective measurements of nasal obstruction as NIPF. NIPF and the clinical scoring are complementary tools to evaluate AR patients.
OBJECTIVE: To assess the correlation between nasal inspiratory peak flow (NIPF) and clinical scoring in patients with allergic rhinitis (AR). METHODS: A concurrent cohort study was carried out with 52 randomly selected patients aged six to 16 with moderate and severe persistent allergic rhinitis, and followed up for eight weeks. Measurements of NIPF and clinical score for AR were evaluated in a blinded manner. Correlations between NIPF and clinical scoring were obtained from linear regression using the Pearson's correlation coefficient (r). Significance level was p < 0.05. RESULTS: Moderate but statistically significant correlation between NIPF and clinical scoring was found (r = -0.44; p < or = 0.001) and nasal obstruction alone (r = -0.438; p < or = 0.001) were found. CONCLUSION: Results confirm data from studies conducted with adult patients that found weak correlation between allergic rhinitis symptoms and objective measurements of nasal obstruction as NIPF. NIPF and the clinical scoring are complementary tools to evaluate AR patients.