Validation of the Scale of Allergic Rhinitis

Abstract

Allergic symptoms have been linked to behavioural and affective disorders. The Scale of Allergic Rhinitis (SAR) was constructed to address the need for a validated homogeneous self-report instrument to assess allergic rhinitis (AR). Reliability and validity were found by testing 199 university students. Cronbach's alpha was 0.95, p < 0.001, indicating excellent reliability. An R-Factor Analysis rotated to a Varimax criterion indicated four factors: ‘Eyes’, ‘Nose’, ‘Throat’, and ‘Ears’, with ‘Eyes’ contributing the majority of the variance. These results matched the hypothesized construct of AR. In addition, a statistically significant difference was found in the predicted direction with the clinical AR group scoring significantly higher on the SAR than the control group. In total, these results indicate good evidence of construct validity. Thus, the SAR may be useful in medicine and psychology, particularly for researching the relationship between AR symptoms and other medical or psychological conditions.

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to acknowledge Robert Harvey, MD and G. K. Rao, MD and the staff of the Victoria Allergy and Asthma Clinic for their assistance in recruiting clinical subjects at the Clinic and in gathering clinical data.

This research was supported by grant KO8MH01995 from the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health.