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Review
. 2018 Sep;73(9):1763-1774.
doi: 10.1111/all.13406. Epub 2018 Mar 22.

Treatment of allergic rhinitis using mobile technology with real-world data: The MASK observational pilot study

J Bousquet  1   2   3 P Devillier  4 S Arnavielhe  5 A Bedbrook  1 G Alexis-Alexandre  6 M van Eerd  7 R Murray  8 G W Canonica  9 M Illario  10 E Menditto  11 G Passalacqua  9 C Stellato  12 M Triggiani  12 P Carreiro-Martins  13 J Fonseca  14   15 M Morais Almeida  16 L Nogueira-Silva  17 A M Pereira  15   18   19 A Todo Bom  20 I Bosse  21 D Caimmi  22 P Demoly  22 J F Fontaine  23 J Just  24 G L Onorato  1 M L Kowalski  25   26 P Kuna  27 B Samolinski  28 J M Anto  29   30   31   32 J Mullol  16 A Valero  33 P V Tomazic  34 K C Bergmann  35 T Keil  36   37 L Klimek  38 R Mösges  39   40 S Shamai  39   40 T Zuberbier  35 E Murphy  41 P McDowall  41 D Price  42   43   44 D Ryan  45 A Sheikh  46 N H Chavannes  47 W J Fokkens  48 V Kvedariene  49 A Valiulis  50   51 C Bachert  52 P W Hellings  3   53   54 I Kull  55 E Melen  55 M Wickman  56   57 C Bindslev-Jensen  58 E Eller  58 T Haahtela  59 N G Papadopoulos  60   61 I Annesi-Maesano  62   63 M Bewick  64 S Bosnic-Anticevich  65   66 A A Cruz  67   68 G De Vries  7 B Gemicioglu  69 D Larenas-Linnemann  70 D Laune  5 E Mathieu-Dupas  5 R E O'Hehir  71   72 O Pfaar  38   73 F Portejoie  1 V Siroux  74 O Spranger  75 E Valovirta  76 O VandenPlas  77 A Yorgancioglu  78
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Free article
Review

Treatment of allergic rhinitis using mobile technology with real-world data: The MASK observational pilot study

J Bousquet et al. Allergy. 2018 Sep.
Free article

Abstract

Background: Large observational implementation studies are needed to triangulate the findings from randomized control trials as they reflect "real-world" everyday practice. In a pilot study, we attempted to provide additional and complementary insights on the real-life treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) using mobile technology.

Methods: A mobile phone app (Allergy Diary, freely available in Google Play and Apple App stores) collects the data of daily visual analog scales (VAS) for (i) overall allergic symptoms, (ii) nasal, ocular, and asthma symptoms, (iii) work, as well as (iv) medication use using a treatment scroll list including all medications (prescribed and over the counter (OTC)) for rhinitis customized for 15 countries.

Results: A total of 2871 users filled in 17 091 days of VAS in 2015 and 2016. Medications were reported for 9634 days. The assessment of days appeared to be more informative than the course of the treatment as, in real life, patients do not necessarily use treatment on a daily basis; rather, they appear to increase treatment use with the loss of symptom control. The Allergy Diary allowed differentiation between treatments within or between classes (intranasal corticosteroid use containing medications and oral H1-antihistamines). The control of days differed between no [best control], single, or multiple treatments (worst control).

Conclusions: This study confirms the usefulness of the Allergy Diary in accessing and assessing everyday use and practice in AR. This pilot observational study uses a very simple assessment (VAS) on a mobile phone, shows novel findings, and generates new hypotheses.

Keywords: mHealth; mobile technology; observational study; rhinitis; treatment.

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