CARAT QUESTIONNAIRE AS A TOOL FOR SCREENING AND MONITORING ALLERGIC RHINITIS AND ASTHMA SYMPTOMS IN PRACTICE OF FAMILY DOCTOR

The ARIA guidelines stress the importance of multi-faceted approach for both evaluation and control of allergic rhinitis and bronchial asthma. This is why the issue should be considered as a lower and up-per respiratory tract impairment at the same time, since rhinitis is a major predictor of poor asthma control. Our study is aimed at evaluating the possibility of introducing the Control of Allergic Rhinitis and Asthma Test (CARAT) to everyday practice of Ukrainian primary medical care doctors and testing this questionnaire as a symptom control tool during the treatment. 79 children who have met the randomization criteria and filled out the questionnaire, provided their history of allergies and underwent physical examination. Regardless of the test results, a prick skin test was performed at each child. For three of nine patients with a positive result of the CARAT questionnaire, high sensitization to domestic allergens was proved and the diagnosis of perennial allergic rhinitis and intermittent bronchial asthma was determined. The other 72 patients with negative skin tests and negative CARAT-test showed no signs of respiratory allergosis. At the other stage of the research, patients with diagnosed allergic rhinitis and/or bronchial asthma underwent a double testing at 3 months’ intervals. A third of surveyed patients appraised their condition as better than the questionnaire results showed. A fifth of patients suffering from bronchial asthma were prescribed adjunctive treatment of allergic rhinitis. For almost a half of patients, the proper symptoms control was never reached, which resulted in the necessity of the background therapy correction.