The Effect of House Dust Mite Immunotherapy on Quality of Life and Symptom Scores in Patients with Allergic Rhinitis

Introduction: It was aimed to evaluate the post-treatment clinical findings and quality of life among patients treated with allergen-specific subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT). Materials and Methods: Our study included 39 pediatric patients who underwent SCIT in October 2022 in the department of pediatric allergy and immunology, who were allergic to house dust mites, diagnosed with allergic rhinitis or combined allergic rhinitis and asthma. Socio-demographic characteristics, laboratory and clinical features of the patients were evaluated. Visual analog scale (VAS) and Rhino Conjunctivits Scoring System (RCSS) were used to evaluate the disease symptoms quantitatively after allergen-specific immunotherapy. Disease-related quality of life was evaluated with the Pediatric Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (PRQLQ) questionnaire. Results: Of the 39 pediatric patients evaluated, 33 (84.6%) were diagnosed with allergic rhinitis; 6 (15.4%) were diagnosed with asthma and allergic rhinitis. Of the patients, 66.7% (n=26) were male. The median age was 10.0 years (6.0-17.0). The relationship between the total number of SCIT injections administered to the patients and the patients' VAS, RCSS and PRQLQ scores was evaluated. A moderate to strong negative correlation was seen with all scores. Except for the RCSS ocular-redness subscore, all correlations were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Conclusion: In patients in the further stages of SCIT treatment, the quality of life was higher and the severity of clinical findings was lower. It is presented that the severity of clinical findings related to allergic rhinitis decreased during SCIT treatment.