TY - JOUR
T1 - Adherence to Treatment in Allergic Rhinitis During the Pollen Season in Europe
T2 - A MASK-air Study
AU - Sousa-Pinto, Bernardo
AU - Costa, Elísio M.
AU - Vieira, Rafael José
AU - Klimek, Ludger
AU - Czarlewski, Wienczyslawa
AU - Pfaar, Oliver
AU - Bedbrook, Anna
AU - Amaral, Rita
AU - Brussino, Luisa
AU - Kvedariene, Violeta
AU - Larenas-Linnemann, Desiree E.
AU - Iinuma, Tomohisa
AU - Pham-Thi, Nhân
AU - Regateiro, Frederico S.
AU - Taborda-Barata, Luis
AU - Ventura, Maria Teresa
AU - Ansotegui, Ignacio J.
AU - Bergmann, Karl C.
AU - Canonica, G. Walter
AU - Cardona, Victoria
AU - Cecchi, Lorenzo
AU - Cherrez-Ojeda, Ivan
AU - Cingi, Cemal
AU - Cruz, Alvaro A.
AU - Del Giacco, Stefano
AU - Devillier, Philippe
AU - Fokkens, Wytske J.
AU - Gemicioglu, Bilun
AU - Haahtela, Tari
AU - Ivancevich, Juan Carlos
AU - Kuna, Piotr
AU - Kraxner, Helga
AU - Laune, Daniel
AU - Louis, Renaud
AU - Makris, Michael
AU - Morais-Almeida, Mario
AU - Mösges, Ralph
AU - Niedoszytko, Marek
AU - Papadopoulos, Nikolaos G.
AU - Patella, Vincenzo
AU - Pereira, Ana Margarida
AU - Reitsma, Sietze
AU - Robles-Velasco, Karla
AU - Rouadi, Philip W.
AU - Samolinski, Boleslaw
AU - Sova, Milan
AU - Toppila-Salmi, Sanna K.
AU - Sastre, Joaquin
AU - Valiulis, Arunas
AU - Ollert, Markus
AU - the MASK-air think tank
AU - bousquet, jean
N1 - Funding:
None for this specific study. MASK-air has been supported by EU grants (from the Impact of air Pollution on Asthma and Rhinitis project of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology Health; Structural and Development Funds, Région Languedoc Roussillon, and Provence-Alpes- Côte d'Azur; Twinning, European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing, DG Santé and DG Connect; H2020 and Horizon Europe), Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón, Ecuador, University of Liège and educational grants from Mylan-Viatris, Allergologisk Laboratorium København, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Stallergènes- Greer, and Noucor.
© 2025 The Author(s). Clinical & Experimental Allergy published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2025/3
Y1 - 2025/3
N2 - Background: Adherence to rhinitis treatment has been insufficiently assessed. We aimed to use data from the MASK-air mHealth app to assess adherence to oral antihistamines (OAH), intra-nasal corticosteroids (INCS) or azelastine-fluticasone in patients with allergic rhinitis. Methods: We included regular European MASK-air users with self-reported allergic rhinitis and reporting at least 1 day of OAH, INCS or azelastine-fluticasone. We assessed weeks during which patients answered the MASK-air questionnaire on all days. We restricted our analyses to data provided between January and June, to encompass the pollen seasons across the different assessed countries. We analysed symptoms using visual analogue scales (VASs) and the combined symptom-medication score (CSMS), performing stratified analyses by weekly adherence levels. Medication adherence was computed as the proportion of days in which patients reported rhinitis medication use. Sensitivity analyses were performed considering all weeks with at most 1 day of missing data and all months with at most 4 days of missing data. Results: We assessed 8212 complete weeks (1361 users). Adherence (use of medication > 80% days) to specific drug classes ranged from 31.7% weeks for azelastine-fluticasone to 38.5% weeks for OAH. Similar adherence to rhinitis medication was found in users with or without self-reported asthma, except for INCS (better adherence in asthma patients). VAS and CSMS levels increased from no adherence to full adherence, except for INCS. A higher proportion of days with uncontrolled symptoms was observed in weeks with higher adherence. In full adherence weeks, 41.2% days reported rhinitis co-medication. The sensitivity analyses displayed similar results. Conclusions: A high adherence was found in patients reporting regular use of MASK-air. Different adherence patterns were found for INCS compared to OAH or azelastine-fluticasone that are likely to impact guidelines.
AB - Background: Adherence to rhinitis treatment has been insufficiently assessed. We aimed to use data from the MASK-air mHealth app to assess adherence to oral antihistamines (OAH), intra-nasal corticosteroids (INCS) or azelastine-fluticasone in patients with allergic rhinitis. Methods: We included regular European MASK-air users with self-reported allergic rhinitis and reporting at least 1 day of OAH, INCS or azelastine-fluticasone. We assessed weeks during which patients answered the MASK-air questionnaire on all days. We restricted our analyses to data provided between January and June, to encompass the pollen seasons across the different assessed countries. We analysed symptoms using visual analogue scales (VASs) and the combined symptom-medication score (CSMS), performing stratified analyses by weekly adherence levels. Medication adherence was computed as the proportion of days in which patients reported rhinitis medication use. Sensitivity analyses were performed considering all weeks with at most 1 day of missing data and all months with at most 4 days of missing data. Results: We assessed 8212 complete weeks (1361 users). Adherence (use of medication > 80% days) to specific drug classes ranged from 31.7% weeks for azelastine-fluticasone to 38.5% weeks for OAH. Similar adherence to rhinitis medication was found in users with or without self-reported asthma, except for INCS (better adherence in asthma patients). VAS and CSMS levels increased from no adherence to full adherence, except for INCS. A higher proportion of days with uncontrolled symptoms was observed in weeks with higher adherence. In full adherence weeks, 41.2% days reported rhinitis co-medication. The sensitivity analyses displayed similar results. Conclusions: A high adherence was found in patients reporting regular use of MASK-air. Different adherence patterns were found for INCS compared to OAH or azelastine-fluticasone that are likely to impact guidelines.
KW - Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use
KW - Adult
KW - Anti-Allergic Agents/therapeutic use
KW - Europe
KW - Female
KW - Fluticasone/therapeutic use
KW - Histamine Antagonists/therapeutic use
KW - Humans
KW - Male
KW - Medication Adherence
KW - Middle Aged
KW - Phthalazines/therapeutic use
KW - Pollen/immunology
KW - Rhinitis, Allergic, Seasonal/drug therapy
KW - Seasons
KW - Surveys and Questionnaires
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85219017262&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39956639/
U2 - 10.1111/cea.70004
DO - 10.1111/cea.70004
M3 - Article
C2 - 39956639
AN - SCOPUS:85219017262
SN - 0954-7894
VL - 55
SP - 226
EP - 238
JO - Clinical and Experimental Allergy
JF - Clinical and Experimental Allergy
IS - 3
ER -