The role of anxious temperament in patients with allergic rhinitis

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the depressive and anxiety levels in allergic rhinitis (AR) and to investigate the relationship between depression and anxiety symptoms and depressive and anxious temperament features. METHODS: The study design is cross-sectional. The study was conducted between January 2017 and January 2018. Patients (n=101) diagnosed with AR and healthy controls (n=74) were included in this study. All participants were assessed with the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and TEMPS-A (Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, San Diego Autoquestionaire). RESULTS: The median BAI and BDI scores of the patients were found to be significantly higher than the control group (p=0.016 and p=0.001). In AR patients, the percentage of depressive and anxious temperaments were significantly higher than in the control group (p=0.029). Depressive temperament scores showed strong positive correlation with anxious temperament and BDI scores and a medium relationship with the BAI (r; p=0.639; p<0.001, p=0.671; p<0.001, and p=0.495; p<0.001, respectively). Participants with anxious temperament had 6.3-times (95% CI: 1.3-28.3) the risk for developing AR. CONCLUSION: Screening of temperament traits in AR patients may allow prediction of future depression and anxiety symptoms. These temperament traits may be mediators of depression and anxiety in AR patients. Depressive and anxious temperament traits may contribute to both depression and allergy.