Adherence During Early Allergen Immunotherapy and Strategies to Motivate and Support Patients

European Medical Journal Allergy & Immunology

article

Natalija Novak¹  Timo Buhl²  Oliver Pfaar⁴ 

[1] Department of Dermatology and Allergy, University of Bonn Medical Center;Department of Dermatology, Venereology, and Allergology, University Medical Center, Georg-August University;Lower Saxony Institute of Occupational Dermatology, University Medical Center Göttingen, Göttingen and University of Osnabrück;Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Universitätsmedizin Mannheim, Medical Faculty Mannheim, Heidelberg University;Center for Rhinology and Allergology

关键词: Adherence;    allergen immunotherapy (AIT);    allergic rhinitis (AR);    quality of life (QoL);    subcuta-neous immunotherapy (SCIT);    sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT);   

DOI  :  10.33590/emj/10312545

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: European Medical Journal

【 摘 要 】

Allergic rhinitis is one of the most common chronic inflammatory conditions, affecting up to 30% of people in Europe. Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) is the only treatment for allergic rhinitis and asthma that has a disease-modifying effect, and it is recommended in European guidelines for use in conjunction with patient education, specific allergen avoidance, and symptomatic pharmacotherapy. Reported AIT adherence rates vary widely but are often low in real-world settings. Factors known to affect adherence are patient, treatment, or physician-related, and vary between healthcare settings. Misconceptions or a lack of AIT knowledge among patients with regard to efficacy and side effects may contribute to high rates of discontinuation observed during the first year of AIT treatment. Interventions to improve patient adherence are multifaceted and should focus on patient education, particularly the provision of accurate information regarding adverse effects of AIT and when to expect an improvement in symptoms, patient-support programmes, and the use of regular eHealth reminders via a telephone call, text message, or social media. Serum-based biomarkers also have the potential to play a role in evaluating early response to AIT and in monitoring treatment adherence in clinical practice. In this review, the authors explore barriers to continuation with AIT and discuss initiatives to motivate and support patients through the challenging early months of treatment, prior to the onset of clinical effect and when side effects are most common, to encourage long-term adherence to therapy and achieve optimal patient outcomes.

【 授权许可】

CC BY-NC