Publication details

Allergen immunotherapy in MASK-air users in real-life: Results of a Bayesian mixed-effects model

Authors	SOUSA PINTO B AZEVEDO LF SA SOUSA A VIEIRA RJ AMARAL R KLIMEK L CZARLEWSKI W ANTO JM BEDBROOK A KVEDARIENE V VENTURA MT ANSOTEGUI IJ BERGMANN KC BRUSSINO L CANONICA GW CARDONA V CARREIRO MARTINS P CASALE T CECCHI L CHIVATO T CHU DK CINGI C COSTA EM CRUZ AA G De Feo DEVILLIER P FOKKENS WJ GAGA M GEMICIOGLU B HAAHTELA T IVANCEVICH JC ISPAYEVA Z JUTEL M KUNA P KAIDASHEV I KRAXNER H LARENAS LINNEMANN DE LAUNE D LIPWORTH B LOUIS R MAKRIS M MONTI R MORAIS ALMEIDA M MOSGES R MULLOL J ODEMYR M OKAMOTO Y PAPADOPOULOS NG PATELLA V NHAN PT REGATEIRO FS REITSMA S ROUADI PW SAMOLINSKI B SOVA Milan TODO BOM A TABORDA BARATA L TOMAZIC PV TOPPILA SALMI S SASTRE J TSILIGIANNI I VALIULIS A WALLACE D WASERMAN S YORGANCIOGLU A ZIDARN M ZUBERBIER T FONSECA JA BOUSQUET J PFAAR O
Year of publication	2022
Type	Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source	CLINICAL AND TRANSLATIONAL ALLERGY
MU Faculty or unit	Faculty of Medicine
Citation
Web	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/clt2.12128
Keywords	allergic rhinitis; immunotherapy; mobile health; patient-reported outcomes; real-life data analysis
Description	Background Evidence regarding the effectiveness of allergen immunotherapy (AIT) on allergic rhinitis has been provided mostly by randomised controlled trials, with little data from real-life studies. Objective To compare the reported control of allergic rhinitis symptoms in three groups of users of the MASK-air(R) app: those receiving sublingual AIT (SLIT), those receiving subcutaneous AIT (SCIT), and those receiving no AIT. Methods We assessed the MASK-air(R) data of European users with self-reported grass pollen allergy, comparing the data reported by patients receiving SLIT, SCIT and no AIT. Outcome variables included the daily impact of allergy symptoms globally and on work (measured by visual analogue scales-VASs), and a combined symptom-medication score (CSMS). We applied Bayesian mixed-effects models, with clustering by patient, country and pollen season. Results We analysed a total of 42,756 days from 1,093 grass allergy patients, including 18,479 days of users under AIT. Compared to no AIT, SCIT was associated with similar VAS levels and CSMS. Compared to no AIT, SLIT-tablet was associated with lower values of VAS global allergy symptoms (average difference = 7.5 units out of 100; 95% credible interval [95%CrI] = -12.1;-2.8), lower VAS Work (average difference = 5.0; 95%CrI = -8.5;-1.5), and a lower CSMS (average difference = 3.7; 95%CrI = -9.3;2.2). When compared to SCIT, SLIT-tablet was associated with lower VAS global allergy symptoms (average difference = 10.2; 95%CrI = -17.2;-2.8), lower VAS Work (average difference = 7.8; 95%CrI = -15.1;0.2), and a lower CSMS (average difference = 9.3; 95%CrI = -18.5;0.2). Conclusion In patients with grass pollen allergy, SLIT-tablet, when compared to no AIT and to SCIT, is associated with lower reported symptom severity. Future longitudinal studies following internationally-harmonised standards for performing and reporting real-world data in AIT are needed to better understand its 'real-world' effectiveness.