Importance of quality of life in patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis

In ter ms of patients suffering from the disease, socioeconomic impact and co-morbidity, allergic rhinoconjunctivitis clearly is an underestimated disease. Recent interest therefore focuses on these issues, and with the introduction of health-related quality of life (HRQL) questionnaires, instruments have been created to also monitor patient's perception of disease and treatment. It has been advocated to measure health-related quality of life along with the conventional clinical indices in clinical trials and to define disease severity in allergic rhinitis patients. There are two general types of HRQL-instruments, generic and specific health conditions irrespective questionnaires. Generic questionnaires (SF-Sti) measure of thr underlying disease, whereas specific instruments (RQLQ) focus oil disease-related issues and allow adaptation to different age groups. Both types of HRQL-measures hale been used to study the effects of antiallergic drugs in allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. In general, the effects on HRQL run parallel with the effects on conventional medical outcome measures, but differences could be found in some studies indicating that patients perceive differences in efficacy not captured bi conventional symptom scores. Additional valuable information on treatment perception, esp. in terms of practical problems, adverse events and acceptance of treatment can he gained by using HRQL questionnaires in clinical studies.