Climatic factors influenced the prevalence of persistent and intermittent rhinitis in children, particularly those aged 13 to 14 years, according to recent study results.

Researchers collected monthly rhinitis symptom data from children aged 6 to 7 and aged 13 to 14 years in phase 3 of the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood. It included 222 centers in 94 countries for the older patients and 135 centers in 59 countries for the younger patients.

Researchers assessed intermittent (more than one reported symptom but not in consecutive months) and persistent (symptoms for at least 2 consecutive months) rhinitis symptoms with temperature, precipitation, vapor pressure, and the normalized difference vegetation index and adjusted for gross national income and population density.

Among patients aged 6 and 7 years, associations were observed with climate, including a positive within-country association between monthly vegetation measurements and persistent symptom prevalence.