Prevalence of Allergic Rhinitis Among Adults in Urban and Rural Areas of China: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Survey

PURPOSE: The aim of the present study was to compare the prevalence of self-reported and confirmable allergic rhinitis (AR) with positive skin prick test (SPT) results among adults living in urban and rural areas of China. METHODS: Adults from a community in Beijing and a village in Baoding were selected as representative urban and rural dwellers, respectively. All eligible residents were enrolled from the population register and received a face-to-face interview using modified validated questionnaires. Equal sets of randomly selected self-reporting AR-positive and AR-negative participants who responded to the questionnaires were also investigated using skin prick tests. RESULTS: A total of 803 participants in the rural area and a total of 1,499 participants in the urban area completed the questionnaires, with response rates being 75.9% and 81.5% respectively. The prevalence of self-reported AR of the rural area (19.1%) was significantly higher than that of the urban area (13.5%). The elementary school of educational level increased the risk of having AR (adjusted OR=2.198, 95% CI=1.072-2.236) .The positive SPT rates among subjects with self-reported AR in the rural and urban areas were 32.5% and 53.3%, respectively; the confirmable AR prevalence of 6.2% and 7.2% among the rural and urban adults, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of confirmable AR is similar between rural and urban areas in China, although there is a higher prevalence of self-reported AR in the former.