Allergy Treatments Make a Difference, Study Finds

HOW BAD DO ALLERGIES MAKE US FEEL? HOW MUCH BETTER DO WE FEEL AFTER TREATMENT? A NEW STUDY FINDS TREATMENT MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Allergies may make us feel worse than we suspected -- and treatment may offer more relief than we thought. A new study using a proven quality of life survey provides surprising new information about allergy sufferers.

Allergies may affect as many as 20-25 percent of the U.S. population and are considered by most health authorities as a significant health care problem. Many specialists believe that allergies have a consistent, negative impact on a patient's quality of life (QOL). Now there is a new study that, for the first time, utilizes a validated survey instrument that measures allergy patients' QOL and demonstrates the effectiveness of selected immunotherapy and dietary management for this serious medical condition.

The study, "Allergy and Health-Related Quality of Life" was carried out by M. Jennifer Derebery, MD, FACS, from the House Ear Clinic and House Ear Institute (HEI), Los Angeles, CA, and Karen I. Berliner, PhD, an HEI consultant. The findings were presented on April 25 at a meeting of the American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy Foundation, being held April 24-25, at the Marriott's Desert Springs, Palm Desert, CA.

Methodology: All patients seen in the otologic allergy clinic between June, 1996, and March, 1999, with symptoms severe enough to warrant specific allergy testing (and for whom active specific treatment with immunotherapy and dietary management was later recommended) were asked to participate. Each was asked to complete a health-related quality of life survey.

The questionnaire used was the SF-36 Health Survey that measures eight health concepts: Physical functioning, role functioning-physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role functioning-emotional, and mental health. Scores could range from 0-100 with better perceived health receiving the higher score.

Results: 377 adults participated in the study , (140 males (37 percent) and 237 females (63 percent)) and completed the questionnaire prior to treatment. The mean age of the study group was 48.5 years. One hundred patients completed both initial (pre-treatment) and one year follow-up (after or during treatment) surveys.

Prior to treatment for allergies, mean scores ranged from a high of 79.1 for physical functioning to a low of 47.2 for the vitality scores. Other findings include:

* Pollens and molds constituted 87 percent of the allergies; animals/dust caused 11 percent.

* The mean scores for all eight categories registered before treatment are lower (indicating poorer health) in allergy patients than the general population. The greatest variance between the general population and the study population was found in the vitality and role functioning-physical scores.

* The scores for the pre-treatment group were compared against QOL recorded for other medical conditions. Allergy patients were younger than all groups (except clinical depression patients), and yet their scores were lower than older patients with other significant medical conditions.

For example, the vitality scores were as low as in patients with congestive heart failure.

* Following treatment, 72 percent of the 100 patients who completed the second survey stated that their health was better than one year ago (before treatment).

* Measuring the differences in gender revealed that women reported a lower QOL before treatment and made more significant improvements in health following a course of dietary management or immunotherapy.

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Contact Ken Satterfield at 703-519-1563 (until 4/22) or 760-776-8503 (4/22-4/29) for an interview with Dr. Derebery or Dr. Berliner or additional information.