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Clinical and Molecular Allergy
Published in: Clinical and Molecular Allergy 1/2017

Open Access 01-12-2017 | Research

Clinical management, expectations, and satisfaction of patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinoconjunctivitis treated with SQ-standardized grass-allergen tablet under routine clinical practice conditions in Spain

Authors: Tomás Chivato, Pedro Álvarez-Calderón, Carmen Panizo, Ricardo Abengozar, César Alías, Ali Al-Baech, José Arias-Irigoyen, M. José Caballero, Lluis Conill, Silvia de Miguel, Rafael Laguna, Joan Martínez-Benazet, Francisco Matoses, Jose Camilo Martínez-Alonso, Lourdes Mendizábal, Celsa Pérez-Carral, Carlos Puerto, Joan Serra-Batllés, Adolfo Vélez, Jonathan Vicente, Fernando de la Torre

Published in: Clinical and Molecular Allergy | Issue 1/2017

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Abstract

Background

Sublingual immunotherapy has been proven as a well-tolerated and effective treatment for allergic rhinitis. Within this type of treatment, GRAZAX® is the most documented product in terms of safety and efficacy. The objective of this study was to identify the patients’ expectations and level of treatment satisfaction, as well as the clinical management of patients with moderate/severe allergic rhinoconjunctivitis treated with GRAZAX®.

Methods

This was a non-interventional, observational, multi-centre, open-label study involving a total of 131 adult patients aged 18–66 years with confirmed diagnosis of grass-allergy and initiated treatment with GRAZAX® between June 2010 and April 2011.

Results

In the pollen season after starting treatment, 56.6% of patients stated that their symptoms were much less/less intense, 86% needed less symptomatic medication for control of their symptoms, and 74.4% manifested to have improved (quite/a lot) as regards their allergic disease since treatment was initiated as compared with previous grass pollen season. The patient satisfaction with GRAZAX® was measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS) between 0 (minimum satisfaction) and 100 (maximum satisfaction) comprising five different items: effectiveness, tolerability, cost, convenience and overall satisfaction. The results obtained for each item were [mean (SD)]: 74.7 (18.1), 70.3 (36.1), 39.3 (25.8), 86.2 (12.6), 78.4 (15.8) respectively. The patient’s level of satisfaction is highly influenced, especially in terms of assessment of effectiveness, tolerability and convenience, by the information provided by the specialist.

Conclusions

In summary, it can be concluded that improved communication leads to increased patient knowledge, greater patient compliance, and increased patient satisfaction.
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Metadata
Title
Clinical management, expectations, and satisfaction of patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinoconjunctivitis treated with SQ-standardized grass-allergen tablet under routine clinical practice conditions in Spain
Authors
Tomás Chivato
Pedro Álvarez-Calderón
Carmen Panizo
Ricardo Abengozar
César Alías
Ali Al-Baech
José Arias-Irigoyen
M. José Caballero
Lluis Conill
Silvia de Miguel
Rafael Laguna
Joan Martínez-Benazet
Francisco Matoses
Jose Camilo Martínez-Alonso
Lourdes Mendizábal
Celsa Pérez-Carral
Carlos Puerto
Joan Serra-Batllés
Adolfo Vélez
Jonathan Vicente
Fernando de la Torre
Publication date
01-12-2017
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
Clinical and Molecular Allergy / Issue 1/2017
Electronic ISSN: 1476-7961
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12948-016-0057-9

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