Understanding the role of the healthcare professional in patient self-management of allergic rhinitis

Abstract

Objective:Allergic rhinitis is a common, usually long-standing, condition that may be self-diagnosed or have a formal diagnosis. Our aim was to identify how allergic rhinitis sufferers self-manage their condition.Methods:A sample of 276 self-identified adult allergy sufferers pooled from social media completed an online survey comprising 13 questions. The survey was fielded by a professional research organization (Lab42). The main outcome measures included the use of prescription and/or non-prescription allergy medication, and interactions with physician and/or pharmacist with respect to medication use.Results:Of the respondents, 53% (146/276) indicated that they used both prescription and over-the-counter medication to manage their allergy symptoms. Of those who used prescription medication, 53% reported that they discussed their prescription medication in great detail with their physician when it was prescribed, while 42% spoke about it briefly. Following the initial prescription, few discussions about the prescription occur with the physician (45% indicate several discussions, 40% indicate one or two discussions, and 10% indicate no discussions). In most cases (~75% of the time), allergy prescription refills did not require a doctor visit with patients obtaining refills through phone calls to the doctor’s office or through the pharmacy. Two-thirds of patients (69%) report that they have discussed their prescription allergy medication with a pharmacist, with greater than half of respondents having discussed the use of the non-prescription medication with their doctor.Conclusion:Patients with diagnosed allergic rhinitis appear to be self-managing their condition with few interactions with their doctor about their allergy prescription. Interactions with a pharmacist about allergy medication (prescription and non-prescription) appear to be more common than interactions with a physician.

ARIA pharmacy 2018 “Allergic rhinitis care pathways for community pharmacy”

“…A large proportion of AR patients actually self‐manage their condition, and the pharmacist is often the first HCP to whom a person with nasal symptoms presents . This further strengthens the important role of pharmacists within multidisciplinary healthcare teams, acting at different steps of the ARIA‐pharmacy ICPs …”

ARIA guideline 2019: treatment of allergic rhinitis in the German health system

“…Most patients treat their AR without any interaction with their physician [111]. Pharmacists are the most accessible health professionals to the general public and AR is one of the most common diseases managed by pharmacists [112,113].…”

Проект “Aria”: Шляхи Надання Медичної Допомоги При Алергічному Риніті (2019 Рік) – Україна

“…Більшість пацієнтів самостійно керують АР при недостатній взаємодії зі своїм лікарем [78]. Фармацевтимедичні працівники, до яких звертаються в першу чергу, а АР -одне з найпоширеніших захворювань, якими ке-рують фармацевти [79,80].…”