allergic rhinitis in adults with chronic suppurative otitis media

introduction: chronic suppurative otitis media (csom) is considered one of the most common causes of acquired hearing impairment in developing countries. csom is a multifactorial persistent inflammatory disease of the middle ear. a distinct pathophysiologic mechanism linking allergic rhinitis (ar) and csom remains to evolve. the purpose of this study was to investigate the association between ar and csom in adults.this was a case-control study.   materials and methods: the subjects were 62 adults (23 male, 39 female) with established csom and 61 healthy controls.csom was diagnosed when there was a history of chronic (persisting for at least 3 months) otorrhea, accumulation of mucopurulent exudates in the external auditory canal or middle ear and/or perforated tympanic membrane on otoscopy. all participants were evaluated for the presence of ar by clinical evaluation of allergic symptoms, and underwent a skin-prick test for 23 common regional allergens. statistical analysis was performed using spss version 16.   results: the prevalence of clinical rhinitis (allergic and non-allergic) was significantly higher among the cases compared with controls (62.5% vs. 37.5%, p=0.02). the prevalence of ar (proven by positive skin-prick test) was also significantly higher among affected adults than controls (24.6% and 13.8%, respectively). adjusting for age, a logistic regression model showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups. patients with ar and non-ar were at 3.27- (95% ci=1.15–9.29; p=0.036) and 2.57-(95% ci=1.01–6.57; p=0.048) fold increased risk of developing csom, respectively, compared with healthy individuals.   conclusion:  the study showed a higher prevalence of ar in csom patients than in controls. it may be valuable to evaluate and control this factor in these patients.