Abstract

Introduction: Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma adversely affects height in children and it could be considered as an objective tool to assess severity, compliance and lung functions in children. We studied the correlation between height and pulmonary function tests with classification of allergic rhinitis and asthma. Aims & Objectives: 1) To study the height parameter with the grade of asthma and allergic rhinitis 2) To evaluate the pulmonary function test with the severity of asthma and allergic rhinitis 3) To correlate height and pulmonary function test with the classification of asthma and allergic rhinitis. Material and Methods: A prospective study including 30 patients in the age group of 5-12 years diagnosed with allergic rhinitis (AR) and bronchial asthma was conducted in a private tertiary care hospital in Navi Mumbai. History was entered in a pre-designed proforma and height was measured using a calibrated stadiometer along with pulmonary function tests recorded at the initial and two visits, 3 months apart. Results: Height increased significantly in patients without AR (p-value<0.01), with mild intermittent (p-value=0.02) and mild persistent AR (p-value<0.01) on subsequent visits. Patients with intermittent, mild persistent and moderate persistent asthma showed a statistically significant increase in height (p-value<0.01) with subsequent assessments. No significant increase in height was noted in patients with moderate persistent AR (p-value=0.14) and severe persistent asthma (p-value=0.16). At baseline, the height correlated significantly with FEV1 (p value<0.01), FVC (p value<0.01), Pre and Post-PEFR (p value<0.01, each). This trend continued at the first follow up. At the second follow-up, height correlated significantly with all parameters of pulmonary function tests (p value<0.01 for FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC ratio and PEFR). Conclusion: Height correlation with classification of AR and Asthma along with pulmonary function test has emerged as a simple, safe, cost-effective method in assessing control and monitoring the disease.