Hospital admissions due to vasomotor and allergic rhinitis in England and Wales between 1999 and 2019: an ecological study.

BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis is among the most prevalent chronic disorders in high-income countries. Its estimated cost is €30-€50 billion annually in the European Union and in the UK, it is approximately €1.8 billion per year.

AIM: To study hospital admissions for vasomotor and allergic rhinitis in England and Wales during the past 20 years.

METHOD: This was an ecological study using publicly available data extracted from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database in England and the Patient Episode Database for Wales (PEDW). The trend in hospital admissions was assessed using a Poisson model.

RESULTS: Admission rate increased by 2.14-fold [from 2.59 (95% CI 2.46-2.73) in 1999 to 8.16 (95% CI 7.93-8.39) in 2020 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 001]. The most prevalent hospital admission reasons were allergic rhinitis due to pollen, other allergic rhinitis, and unspecified allergic rhinitis, which accounted for 56.4%, 22.3%, and 15.7%, respectively. The age group 15-59 years accounted for 69.5% of the total number of admissions. Admission rate between males increased by 2.25-fold. Admission rate between females increased by 2.02-fold.

CONCLUSION: Vasomotor and allergic rhinitis are common cause of hospital admissions in England and Wales that showed a clear increase in the rate of their admissions in the past 20 years. Allergic rhinitis due to pollen was the most dominant cause of admission, which warrants further investigation to identify its preventable risk factors and decrease the probability of the exacerbation of patients' cases and the need for hospitalization.