Jundishapur J Chronic Dis Care. 2021 April; 10(2):e114620. Published online 2021 May 18. doi: 10.5812/jjcdc.114620. Research Article Prevalence of Allergic Rhinitis in Children with Adenotonsillar Hypertrophy Referred to Imam Khomeini Hospital of Ahvaz from 2019 to 2020 Soheila Nikakhlagh 1 , Shohreh Norouzi 1 , Nader Saki 1 and Mohammad Bagher Bakhshipour 2, * 1 Hearing Research Center, CRC of Imam Hospital, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran 2 Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran * Corresponding author: Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran. Email: bakhshipurmohammad@gmail.com Received 2021 March 15; Revised 2021 April 27; Accepted 2021 April 27. Abstract Background: Allergic diseases are among the most common chronic conditions in pediatrics. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the relative frequency of allergic rhinitis (AR) in children with adenotonsillar hypertrophy. Methods: In this descriptive study, 175 patients with adenotonsillar hypertrophy referred to the Imam Khomeini hospital of Ahvaz from March 2019 to March 2020 were enrolled. Allergic rhinitis was diagnosed based on the Score for AR (SFAR) questionnaire. The questionnaire, including the expert-designed SFAR, has eight main components that evaluate eight quantitative features of AR, and each was designated with a specific weighted score based on previous clinical studies. The total score could vary from 0 to 16. Frequency and percentage were used to describe the data. The chi-square test and Fisher’s exact test were used to analyze the data. Results: One hundred seventy-five patients with adenotonsillar hypertrophy in the age range of 1 to 17 years were studied. Ninety- one patients (52%) were male, and 84 patients (48%) were female. Based on the score obtained from the questionnaire, 146 patients (83.4%) had a score of less than seven, indicating susceptibility to AR. Twenty-nine patients (16.6%) had a score equal to or higher than 7, confirming the diagnosis of AR. The Chi-square test showed that AR was significantly associated with all the components of the questionnaire, except for cigarette smoking (P-value < 0.001). Conclusions: This study showed the strong association of AR with some demographic factors. Allergic rhinitis could potentially increase the risk of adenotonsillar hypertrophy in children. Keywords: Rhinitis, Allergic, Hypertrophy, Tonsillitis, Peritonsillar Abscess, Child 1. Background Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common respiratory illness in early childhood and has a high frequency in school- age children (1). This condition is regarded as an irrita- ble reaction caused by immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated type 1 hypersensitivity of the nasal mucosa, leading to the eosinophilic inflammation and allergic reactions of mu- cous membranes (2). Moreover, AR affects about 10 to 54% of the world’s population. It is a worldwide health prob- lem causing disability in all age groups and in people with different socio-economics features. Allergic rhinitis is clas- sified as a seasonal and perennial disease, and currently, it is known to present with either intermittent or persis- tent symptoms (3, 4). Diagnosis is usually based on a typi- cal history taking, as well as in vivo and in vitro tests. The detection of IgE, especially allergen-specific IgE, is the ba- sis of the in vitro test (5). Tonsils and adenoids are parts of the waldeyer’s ring, whose primary function is to pro- duce antibodies. Adenotonsillectomy is the most common surgery in children (6, 7), potentially enhancing their qual- ity of lives. This procedure is usually performed due to ei- ther tonsil enlargement obstructing airways or infectious etiologies (8). However, the exact causes of adenotonsillar hypertro- phy are still unknown. Allergic rhinitis generally affects 10 - 30% of the population, with the highest prevalence in chil- dren and adolescents. The role of allergy in adenotonsillar hypertrophy has been highlighted in the literature (7). The adenoid and tonsil tissues are located at the first part of the respiratory tract, making them the first parts contacting inhaled allergens. Reports have recommended that aller- gic diseases by influencing the adenoid and tonsil tissues Copyright © 2021, Jundishapur Journal of Chronic Disease Care. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits copy and redistribute the material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited.