Failure to get relief from topical steroid nasal spray is often blamed on poor administration knowledge. In a population of patients referred to the rhinitis clinic who have failed to get relief from topical steroid nasal spray when prescribed by the general practitioner, lack of patient education only accounts for 28 per cent of patient treatment failures and other factors e.g. poor compliance, erroneous diagnosis or severity of rhinitis will be responsible for the rest. Information leaflets are considered to be a good idea by nearly all patients but this study demonstrates that they would only be of therapeutic benefit to a minority of patients.