Background: The prevalence of allergic rhinitis due to house-dust mites (HDMs) is high and increasing. Treatment guidelines and consensus statements are available, but few data exist on how these are followed in clinical practice in Spain. This study was designed to collect data on diagnosis and treatment of allergic rhinitis due to HDMs and adherence to guidelines in Spanish specialized clinical practice.
Methods: In this observational study, patients referred to specialists for a first consultation were collected. Diagnosis of allergic rhinitis due to HDMs was confirmed by skin-prick tests and measurement of specific immunoglobulin E levels. Variables included patient demographics, diagnosis, and treatment. Moreover, investigators answered a questionnaire on their attitudes to allergic rhinitis treatment.
Results: Two hundred forty-seven clinicians collected evaluable data from 519 patients (mean age, 24.8 years; SD, 11.9 years; 54% women) with confirmed allergic rhinitis (86.2% with moderate or severe disease and 70.5% with persistent disease; 40% with concomitant asthma) caused by Dermatophagoides. In 85.6% of patients, symptoms had not improved since diagnosis and good disease control was only being achieved in 43.4%. At the study visit, pharmacologic treatment was prescribed in 98.3% and allergen immunotherapy was prescribed in 52.2% of patients.
Conclusion: When patients with HDM-induced allergic rhinitis are referred to an allergy specialist in Spain, they have moderate-to-severe persistent disease and are generally not achieving good control with symptomatic treatment. Allergen immunotherapy is prescribed in approximately one-half of patients. In this representative sample of Spanish allergy specialists, the level of adherence to clinical guidelines in these patients is encouraging.