The Impact of Sublingual Immunotherapy on Quality of Life in Allergy
Rhinitis Patients
Abstract
Introduction: Immunotherapy has proven its efficacy in multiple
randomized control trials (RCT) in treating allergic rhinitis (AR) as it
induces induces long term remission after discontinuation and prevent
new sensitization. Objective: Our aim is to look into earliest
improvement of quality of life (QOL) in AR patient treated with
Sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT). Methodology: Patients who were
sensitized to dust mites (Dermatophagoides farinae, Dermatophagoides
pteronyssinus and Blomia tropicalis) were enrolled into the study. All
patients were treated with SLIT for 6 months. The patients were assessed
using rhinoconjunctivitis quality of life questionnaires (RQLQ) and peak
nasal inspiratory flow (PNIF) pre-treatment at 1, 3 and 6 months post
SLIT. The usage of intranasal corticosteroids (INS) and antihistamine
were documented in medication diary. The data for pre and post treatment
for RQLQ results were analysed using paired T-test and medication diary
were analysed using ANOVA test. Results: A total of 53 patients were
enrolled in the study. The mean RQLQ score showed significant result at
3 and 6 months post SLIT (p<0.05). Significant improvement
seen in the mean PNIF value pre-treatment (81.54 L/min ±29.36 ) compared
to mean PNIF value at 3 months (92.0L/min ±29.03 ) and 6 months
(96.13L/min ±26.67) post SLIT (p<0.05). The dependency of
patients towards pharmacotherapy also showed a significant reduction at
3 and 6 months post SLIT (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our study
showed a significant improvement of patients’ quality of life as early
as 3 months of post SLIT treatment.