Clinical Circadian Behaviour of Infantile Allergic Rhinitis

Objectives: In a week, not every day the patient with allergic rhinitis will have symptoms; also, in a year, not every month the patient will have complaints. Therefore, the clinical evaluation of allergic rhinitis in children should take in consideration the frequency of symptoms and the circadian cycle. 

Methods: forty patients at an outpatient service of general pediatrics who had been diagnosed as presenting active allergic rhinitis were invited to fill up a questionnaire where the symptoms had to be registered at each period of the day, during the following 7 days. 

Results: thirty patients completed the study. Each child presented a distinct pattern of weekly behavior, which was seen at the high values of standard deviations. The frequency of the symptoms were significantly reduced between midday and 16:00 hour.