Our primary objective in designing the first large-scale nationwide population-based survey in France was to assess the impact of perennial rhinitis on quality of life. Our secondary objective was to describe the use of drug treatment, including histamine H1 antagonists, in that population. A pollbase of 20,000 households was screened for symptoms of rhinitis. 16,786 households responded, including 35,615 patients aged over 15 years, giving an overall response rate of 84%. Using an algorithm, 1367 patients with probable perennial rhinitis were selected for a cross-sectional collection of data about the history of their condition, comorbidity, use of medical resources, sick leave and nasal symptom-related quality of life [according to the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Questionnaire (SF-36)]. Finally, multivariate regression techniques were used to describe the relationship between quality-of-life scores and treatment subgroups, controlling for some other confounding factors. The point prevalence of perennial rhinitis was estimated to be 4.1% [95% confidence interval (CI): 3.9 to 4.3%]. Association of perennial rhinitis with a history of asthma was highly significant (13.4% in those with perennial rhinitis vs 3.8% in those without; odds ratio 3.26; p < 0.001). 38% of the patients with perennial rhinitis reported having taken regular medication during the last 3 months. Antihistamine use was associated with use of decongestant or topical nasal products in about one-third of patients. Four SF-36 dimensions (physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, social functioning) showed significantly higher mean scores (indicating better quality of life) in patients receiving non-anticholinergic histamine H1 antagonist therapy, relative to those receiving other treatments, a difference that was maintained after controlling for gender, age, level of nasal symptoms, medical history of asthma and number of general practitioner visits. These results established the long term impact of perennial rhinitis on quality of life (generic and specific), and raised questions about appropriate therapy, since a positive association between current use of non-anticholinergic antihistamines with improvements on some SF-36 dimensional scores in patients with perennial rhinitis was observed.