Background: Clear anterior rhinorrhea is commonly observed in older adults and is widely known as "senile rhinorrhea." Although appreciated in the literature, no studies support that clear rhinorrhea increases with age. Our goal was to determine the prevalence of clear rhinorrhea in adults and the variation between young and old. Additionally, we sought to determine if clear rhinorrhea was bothersome enough for patients to seek treatment.
Methods: A questionnaire was randomly distributed to 158 adults, 76 young adults on the University of Pittsburgh Undergraduate campus, and 82 older adults at Longwood Retirement Community in 2011.
Results: Older subjects reported more drip and an increase in rhinorrhea over time regardless of gender (p < 0.05). Participants wanting to seek treatment reported drip occurred more often, that they used more tissues, and were more bothered by drip compared to those not wanting treatment (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: Clear, anterior rhinorrhea affects older adults regardless of gender significantly more often and more severely than young adults (p < 0.05). The more frequent and bothersome the nasal drip, the more likely individuals would elect treatment.
Keywords: allergic rhinitis; chronic rhinosinusitis; mucociliary clearance; quality of life; rhinitis.
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