Introduction
Rhinitis, allergic rhinitis (AR) in particular, and urticaria are both common global problems. Basic science and epidemiological studies have reported that AR affects more than 400 million people worldwide.1 The estimated prevalence of rhinitis in the United States and other developed countries is from 10%–30% in adults and 40% in children,2 and the incidence rate continues to increase in developing countries, including China and India.3 Although AR is not deadly, it adversely affects school performance, social life, and work productivity. Moreover, AR has a major influence on quality of life, including a duller sense of taste and smell, disturbed sleep, attention, fatigue, depression, and anxiety/mood syndromes.4,5 Considering that rhinitis affects the quality of life in a significant portion of the population and presents a large social and economic burden directly or indirectly, identifying risk factors for it is crucial to further enhance the prevention and control of this disease.
Urticaria is also a common but nonfatal disease. However, it has attracted increasing clinical attention in recent years as studies have reported that this disease as having a severe negative impact on patients’ quality of life.6-8
It has been recognized that patients with rhinitis have a higher risk of developing other manifestations of atopic conditions, including asthma, atopic dermatitis (AD), and food allergy.9,10Urticaria is another common condition in allergy and immunology, although its pathogenesis remains unclear.
A high correlation between rhinitis and urticaria has been reported in clinical settings. Many cross-sectional and longitudinal studies have explored the association between rhinitis and urticaria. Most clinical researches have demonstrated that rhinitis was closely correlated with urticaria,11-20 while others have reported otherwise.21-23 Therefore, whether an atopic association between rhinitis and urticaria exists should be confirmed. Thus, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to quantify the prevalence and investigate the association between both aforementioned diseases.