ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the need and utilization for health services in patients with allergic rhinitis in Qingdao area.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>An investigation was conducted by the method of combining multi-stage sampling and cluster sampling. SPSS 13.0 software was used to analyse the data.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Among Two thousand and four hundred questionnaires, two thousand and fifty-two questionnaires were available. The effective rate was 85.5%. The total two-week prevalence in male was 6.5%, while that in female was 6.2%. There was no significant difference between male and female (χ(2) = 0.103, P > 0.05). The total ratio of those who visited doctors was 1.7%. The ratio of those who visited doctors in the first two weeks was 26.7% (35/131). 49.0% of non-users of health service thought it was unnecessary to consult a doctor because of mild symptoms. In the investigation about the allergic rhinitis, 60.2% patients (1235/2052) confessed that they heard of allergic rhinitis, 30.0% patients (616/2052) thought of allergic rhinitis was common cold.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The number of patients treated for allergic rhinitis was less than its prevalence. The primary reason for low attendance was that the majority of patients with mild symptoms thought it was no need to see a doctor. In order to improve the residents' health services utilization, medical education for allergic rhinitis is necessary.</p>