BACKGROUNDS AND OBJECTIVES: Allergic Rhinitis is a universal common disease, 
especially in populated cities and urban areas. Diagnosis and treatment of 
Allergic Rhinitis will improve the quality of life of allergic patients. Though 
skin tests remain the gold standard test for diagnosis of allergic disorders, 
clinical experts are required for accurate interpretation of test outcomes. This 
work presents a clinical decision support system (CDSS) to assist junior 
clinicians in the diagnosis of Allergic Rhinitis.
METHODS: Intradermal Skin tests were performed on patients who had plausible 
allergic symptoms. Based on patient׳s history, 40 clinically relevant allergens 
were tested. 872 patients who had allergic symptoms were considered for this 
study. The rule based classification approach and the clinical test results were 
used to develop and validate the CDSS. Clinical relevance of the CDSS was 
compared with the Score for Allergic Rhinitis (SFAR). Tests were conducted for 
junior clinicians to assess their diagnostic capability in the absence of an 
expert.
RESULTS: The class based Association rule generation approach provides a concise 
set of rules that is further validated by clinical experts. The interpretations 
of the experts are considered as the gold standard. The CDSS diagnoses the 
presence or absence of rhinitis with an accuracy of 88.31%. The allergy 
specialist and the junior clinicians prefer the rule based approach for its 
comprehendible knowledge model.
CONCLUSION: The Clinical Decision Support Systems with rule based classification 
approach assists junior doctors and clinicians in the diagnosis of Allergic 
Rhinitis to make reliable decisions based on the reports of intradermal skin 
tests.