Allergic rhinitis and asthma symptoms impact quality-of-life
Published: March 30, 2024
Asthma and allergic rhinitis are two chronic conditions which may cause substantial burden on society and impact quality of life. However, national estimates on the health-related quality of life of patients with allergic rhinitis or asthma are currently lacking.
The authors of a study published in a recent issue of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice developed MASK-air® (https://www.mask-air.com/), a mHealth app which allows patients with rhinitis or asthma to register (i) their daily symptoms by means of validated visual analogue scales, and (ii) the impact of their diseases on quality of life (by filling in the EQ-5D-5L questionnaire). Vieira et al. analyzed direct patient data from app users from ten European countries. To partially account for selection biases in mHealth users, the authors applied methods to correct for sex and age biases in MASK-air® when estimating quality of life.
Vieira et al. studied data from up to 7905 users reporting a total of up to 82,737 days of data. The authors found that both poorer asthma and allergic rhinitis control were associated with decreased health-related quality of life. Additionally, the authors found health-related quality of life to be similar in patients with allergic rhinitis and in patients with asthma, especially in those with poorer disease control. Finally, Vieira et al. found that, for patients with controlled or partially controlled allergic rhinitis, patients with comorbid asthma displayed overall lower quality of life than those without asthma. Similar data were found across European countries. This study provides estimates that can be used in future health technology assessment studies, such as cost-utility analyses. In addition, it highlights the importance of achieving good control of both allergic rhinitis and asthma.
The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice is an official journal of the AAAAI, focusing on practical information for the practicing clinician.
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