Quality of life in adults with chronic idiopathic urticaria receiving desloratadine: a randomized, double-blind, multicentre, placebo-controlled study.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the effect of desloratadine on quality of life (QoL) in chronic idiopathic urticaria (CIU).


METHODS
Patients with a history of CIU (pruritus and weals lasting = 6 weeks) were included in this multicentre, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study that took place in dermatology centres throughout France. During the study, patients were randomized to receive desloratadine 5 mg daily or placebo for 42 days.


METHODS
Variation of the scores of two QoL dermatology-specific tools between baseline and day 42, the French translation version of the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the VQ-Dermato (a French-language scoring instrument).


RESULTS
The intent-to-treat population comprised 137 patients [desloratadine (n = 65) or placebo (n = 72)]. Desloratadine treatment was associated with significantly greater improvements from baseline to day 42 compared with placebo in DLQI overall score (-6 vs. -2.2 points; P < 0.002) and VQ-Dermato score (18.5 vs. 29.1 points; P = 0.009). Mean scores for sleep disruption and disruption of daily activities were significantly lower in the desloratadine group than in the placebo group from day 1 to the end of the study.


CONCLUSIONS
Desloratadine 5 mg/day was associated with significant improvements in two separate dermatology-specific measures of QoL in patients with CIU. QoL proved to be a relevant primary outcome measure for therapeutic trials in CIU.
Grob
J J
JJ
Service de Dermatologie, Hôpital Ste Marguerite and Faculté de Médicine, Marseille, France. jean-jacques.grob@mail.ap-hm.fr
Auquier
P
P
Dreyfus
I
I
Ortonne
J P
JP
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D017336:Loratadine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011788:Quality of Life; D012890:Sleep / Q000502:physiology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014581:Urticaria / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D039563:Histamine H1 Antagonists, Non-Sedating; D017336:Loratadine; C121345:desloratadine