Evaluation of quality of life of patients with pollen allergy before and after sublingual immunotherapy course

Introduction
Introduction: The presence of clinical symptoms significantly deteriorates quality of life (QOL) of patients with pollen allergy and requires proper allergy immunotherapy. Aim: To analyze QOL of patients with allergy to weed pollen before and after sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) based on a MiniRQLQ questionnaire.

Material and methods
Totally, 485 individuals, 24 ±4.5 years old were examined. Clinical diagnosis of AR was made according to ARIA criteria (2014). SPT to standard inhaled allergens (Diater Laboratorios, Spain), total serum and specific immunoglobulins IgE, IFA, type-specific components of allergens, immunofluorescent method ImmunoCAP (“Phadia AB”, Swiss) were determined. Analysis of quality of life was performed based on a MiniRQLQ questionnaire.

Results
Among patients of the Lviv region with pollen allergy, the most commonly detected positive SPTs were to Artemisia – in 62.3%, less to Ambrosia – 13.9% of individuals, combined sensitization – 23.8% of patients. Among them, genuine allergy to Artemisia was confirmed in 88.1%, to Ambrosia – 88.2% of individuals, co-sensitization – in 21 patients. According to the results of molecular investigations, SLIT was performed for 69.6% of patients (1st group), and 30.4% of individuals were treated symptomatically (2nd group). Based on the MiniRQLQ questionnaire, it was revealed that QOL indices in patients with pollen allergy, who underwent SLIT, were reliably lower after the first and the second years of treatment compared to the indices before SLIT. Reliable changes were not detected in patients of the second group.

Conclusions
Improvement of QOL indices after a course of SLIT indicated the efficacy of this treatment method in patients with pollen allergy.