Prevalence and diversity of allergic rhinitis in regions of the world beyond <scp>E</scp>urope and <scp>N</scp>orth <scp>A</scp>merica

<jats:sec><jats:title>Background</jats:title><jats:p>There is comparatively little information in the public domain on the diversity in prevalence and triggers/factors associated with allergic rhinitis (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>) or allergic rhinoconjunctivitis (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C) in countries beyond western‐Europe and North America.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective</jats:title><jats:p>To review the prevalence and the sensitizing agents/triggers and factors associated with <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C in several countries in Africa, the Asia‐Pacific region, Australia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, Middle East and Turkey.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Methods</jats:title><jats:p>Articles published in English in peer‐reviewed journals were assessed and selected for further review, following an extensive literature search using the Medline database.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results</jats:title><jats:p>This review demonstrated that prevalence of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content> and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C in these regions has predominantly been investigated in children; with studies indicating wide inter‐ and intra‐regional variations ranging from 2.9% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content> and 3.8% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C in 10–18‐years‐old children from one region in Turkey to 54.1% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content> and 39.2% <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C in 13–14‐years‐old children in one region in Nigeria. Moreover, the prevalence of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content> and <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C has increased markedly over the last decade particularly in some of the more affluent African countries, China‐Taiwan and several Middle East countries, likely as a consequence of improved living standards leading to increased exposure to multiple traditional and non‐traditional sensitizing agents and risk factors similar to those noted in western‐Europe and North America.</jats:p></jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions and Clinical Relevance</jats:title><jats:p>Our findings suggest that the greater diversity in prevalence of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content> or <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C in populations in these regions is in contrast to the lower diversity of <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content> or <jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">AR</jats:styled-content>/C in the ‘western populations (<jats:styled-content style="fixed-case">USA</jats:styled-content> and Europe), which tend to be more uniform. This review provides a comprehensive database of the important allergens and triggers which are likely to influence the prevalence of allergic rhinitis in these diverse regions, where the prevalence of allergic rhinitis is increasing and its adverse impact on the quality of life of affected individuals is increasingly recognised.</jats:p></jats:sec>