Selection of pharmacotherapy for patients with allergic rhinitis aims to control the disease and depends on (1) patient empowerment, preferences, and age; (2) prominent symptoms, symptom severity, and multimorbidity; (3) efficacy and safety of treatment 1 ; (4) speed of onset of action of treatment; (5) current treatment; (6) historic response to treatment; (7) effect on sleep and work productivity 2,3 ; (8) self-management strategies; and (9) resource use. 4,5 An algorithm was devised 5 and digitalized 6 to step up or step down allergic rhinitis treatment based on control. However, its

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Background Large observational implementation studies are needed to triangulate the findings from randomized control trials as they reflect “real‐world” everyday practice. In a pilot study, we attempted to provide additional and complementary insights on the real‐life treatment of allergic rhinitis (AR) using mobile technology. Methods A mobile phone app (Allergy Diary, freely available in Google Play and Apple App stores) collects the data of daily visual analog scales (VAS) for (i) overall allergic symptoms, (ii) nasal, ocular, and asthma symptoms, (iii) work, as well as (iv) medication use using a treatment scroll list including all medications (prescribed and over the counter (OTC)) for rhinitis customized for 15 countries. Results A total of 2871 users filled in 17 091 days of VAS in 2015 and 2016. Medications were reported for 9634 days. The assessment of days appeared to be more informative than the course of the treatment as, in real life, patients do not necessarily use treatment on a daily basis; rather, they appear to increase treatment use with the loss of symptom control. The Allergy Diary allowed differentiation between treatments within or between classes (intranasal corticosteroid use containing medications and oral H1‐antihistamines). The control of days differed between no [best control], single, or multiple treatments (worst control). Conclusions This study confirms the usefulness of the Allergy Diary in accessing and assessing everyday use and practice in AR. This pilot observational study uses a very simple assessment (VAS) on a mobile phone, shows novel findings, and generates new hypotheses.

Medication adherence and persistence is recognized as a worldwide public health problem, particularly important in the management of chronic diseases. Nonadherence to medical plans affects every level of the population, but particularly older adults due to the high number of coexisting diseases they are affected by and the consequent polypharmacy. Chronic disease management requires a continuous psychological adaptation and behavioral reorganization. In literature, many interventions to improve medication adherence have been described for different clinical conditions, however, most interventions seem to fail in their aims. Moreover, most interventions associated with adherence improvements are not associated with improvements in other outcomes. Indeed, in the last decades, the degree of nonadherence remained unchanged. In this work, we review the most frequent interventions employed to increase the degree of medication adherence, the measured outcomes, and the improvements achieved, as well as the main limitations of the available studies on adherence, with a particular focus on older persons.

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