Findings of Brandt and Bernstein Suggesting Nonallergic Vasomotor Rhinitis

 

Features of nonallergic vasomotor rhinitis:

(1) sneezing, itching, rhinorrhea, postnasal discharge and congestion

(2) symptoms induced by irritant triggers

(3) absence of specific IgE-mediated responses

 

Parameters:

(1) age of onset for rhinitis symptoms

(2) parental history of allergy

(3) outdoor symptoms in the spring

(4) symptoms around cats

(5) symptoms around perfumes or fragrances

Parameter	Findings	Points
age of symptom onset	< 35 years of age	0
	>= 35 years of age (page 529)	1
parental history of allergy	yes	0
	no	1
outdoor symptoms in spring	yes	0
	no	1
symptoms around cats	yes	0
	no	1
symptoms around perfumes or fragrances	no	0
	yes	1

 

number of features associated with nonallergic vasomotor rhinitis =

= SUM(points for all 5 parameters)

 

Interpretation:

• minimum number of findings: 0

• maximum number of findings: 5

• The higher the score the greater the chances of nonallergic vasomotor rhinitis.

• The lower the score the more likely the patient has allergic rhinitis.

• A patient with mixed rhinitis may show an intermediate score.

 

The authors developed a model from the logistic regression analysis to predict the probability of nonallergic vasomotor rhinitis but the coefficients were not included in the paper.