Rhinitis medicomentosa and substance addiction.

Background: Rhinitis medicomentosa (RM) is a form of non-allergic rhinitis caused by the use of nasal decongestants for longer than the recommended duration. Because of this problem of use, addiction to the drug occurs in individuals. In our study, we aimed to evaluate the susceptibility of RM patients to substance addiction.

Methods: The study was planned as a prospective, multicentric study between September 2022 and September 2023. Patients diagnosed with RM were included in the study. Beck depression scale, Drug use disorders identification test, Substance Abuse Proclivity Scale were applied to the patients participating in the study. The research data were analyzed electronically with SPSS program version 25.

Results: The study included 86 patients with an average age of 31 years. The average duration of medication use was 22 months. Age, gender, duration of nasal congestion, duration of drug use and smoking were not independent predictors for depression and substance use tendency.

Conclusion: The relationship between RM and addictive substances is not clear. The tendency to use drugs did not increase in RM patients. In the light of these data, we think that there is no need for a practice other than routine functioning in the use of drugs and similar substances that are likely to cause addiction in RM patients.