title: Clinical management, expectations, and satisfaction of patients with moderate to severe allergic rhinoconjunctivitis treated with SQ-standardized grass-allergen tablet under routine clinical practice conditions in Spain.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Sublingual immunotherapy has been proven as a well-tolerated and effective treatment for allergic rhinitis. Within this type of treatment, GRAZAX®is the most documented product in terms of safety and efficacy. The objective of this study was to identify the patients' expectations and level of treatment satisfaction, as well as the clinical management of patients with moderate/severe allergic rhinoconjunctivitis treated with GRAZAX®.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a non-interventional, observational, multi-centre, open-label study involving a total of 131 adult patients aged 18-66 years with confirmed diagnosis of grass-allergy and initiated treatment with GRAZAX®between June 2010 and April 2011.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the pollen season after starting treatment, 56.6% of patients stated that their symptoms were much less/less intense, 86% needed less symptomatic medication for control of their symptoms, and 74.4% manifested to have improved (quite/a lot) as regards their allergic disease since treatment was initiated as compared with previous grass pollen season. The patient satisfaction with GRAZAX®was measured using a visual analogue scale (VAS) between 0 (minimum satisfaction) and 100 (maximum satisfaction) comprising five different items: effectiveness, tolerability, cost, convenience and overall satisfaction. The results obtained for each item were [mean (SD)]: 74.7 (18.1), 70.3 (36.1), 39.3 (25.8), 86.2 (12.6), 78.4 (15.8) respectively. The patient's level of satisfaction is highly influenced, especially in terms of assessment of effectiveness, tolerability and convenience, by the information provided by the specialist.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In summary, it can be concluded that improved communication leads to increased patient knowledge, greater patient compliance, and increased patient satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Decanato. Facultad de Medicina, Facultad de Medicina Universidad CEU San Pablo. Grupo Hospitales HM, Avda. Montepríncipe s/n, Boadilla del Monte, 28668 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Tomás
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chivato
authors.affiliation: Hospital Clínico Universitario de Santiago, La Coruña, Spain.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Álvarez-Calderón
authors.affiliation: Hospital Ntra Sra del Prado, Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Carmen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Panizo
authors.affiliation: Hospital Virgen del Valle, Toledo, Spain.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Abengozar
authors.affiliation: Clínica Corachán, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: César
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alías
authors.affiliation: Private Office, Huelva, Spain.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Al-Baech
authors.affiliation: Private Office, Huelva, Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Arias-Irigoyen
authors.affiliation: Clínica ASISA, Córdoba, Spain.
authors.forename: M José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.affiliation: Hospital Can Misses, Ibiza, Spain.
authors.forename: Lluis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Conill
authors.affiliation: Policlínico Salud 4, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: de Miguel
authors.affiliation: Private Office, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Rafael
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Laguna
authors.affiliation: Hospital Ntra Sra de Meritxell, Escaldes-Engordany, Andorra.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martínez-Benazet
authors.affiliation: Hospital General, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Matoses
authors.affiliation: Hospital Virgen de la Concha, Zamora, Spain.
authors.forename: Jose Camilo
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Martínez-Alonso
authors.affiliation: Clínica Virgen de Fátima, Seville, Spain.
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mendizábal
authors.affiliation: Hospital Comarcal da Costa, Lugo, Spain.
authors.forename: Celsa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pérez-Carral
authors.affiliation: Private Office, Asturias, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Puerto
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Vic, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Serra-Batllés
authors.affiliation: Hospital San Juan de Dios, León, Spain.
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vélez
authors.affiliation: Hospital General, Soria, Spain.
authors.forename: Jonathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vicente
authors.affiliation: ALK-Abelló, S.A, Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de la Torre
keywords: Allergen immunotherapy tablet; Allergic rhinitis; Clinical management; Expectations; Satisfaction