Effects of specific immunotherapy along with medication on quality of life in allergic rhinitis patients

Allergen immunotherapy is a novel method for treatment of allergic rhinitis. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effect of specific immunotherapy on quality of life in patients with allergic rhinitis.
In this quasi-experimental study, 60 patients with allergic rhinitis, who were above 18 years old and were undergone skin prick test, were included. In this account, 30 patients underwent medical treatment plus specific immunotherapy (first group) and also another 30 patients (second group) underwent medical treatment only. Rhino conjunctivitis quality of life questionnaire was filled out at the beginning, 6 months and 12 months after treatment
Among the patients of the first group, 76.7% and among the patients of the second group, 70% of patients had moderate to severe rhinitis. The two groups were similar according to disease severity (p=0.563). Data revealed that quality of life was not significantly different between two groups before treatment. The mean quality of life scores after 6 and 12 months from the beginning of treatment, were significantly lower in first group (1.11 and 0.31 respectively) compared with the second group (1.89 and 1.89 respectively) (P The findings revealed that specific immunotherapy plus medical treatment improve quality of life compared with medical treatment alone and the improvement is more prominent at twelve months after treatment compared with six months after treatment