Comparison study of subcutaneous immunotherapy and sublingual immunotherapy in patients with allergic rhinitis

Abstract

Objective: To observe the compliance, efficacy and safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy(SLIT) and sublingual immunotherapy(SCIT) in patients with allergic rhinitis(AR).Method:One hundred and fifteen patients sensitized to house dust mites were recruited in this study. The standardized extract of house dust mites was used for SLIT in 64 cases, and the standardized extract of dual house dust mites was used for SCIT in the other 51 cases. The compliance, nasal symptom scores, the medication scores, the quality of life and the adverse reaction were evaluated before and 2 years after immunotherapy. SPSS 19.0 was used for data analysis. Result:Forty patients out of 64 completed the 2 years-SLIT, and the compliance rate was 62.50%. Forty three patients out of 51 completed the 2 years-SCIT and the compliance rate was 84.31%.The compliance rate of SLIT was significantly lower than that of SCIT(P <0.05). The nasal symptom scores, the anti-allergic medication, the scores in quality of life decreased significantly after receiving SLIT or SCIT for 2 years（P <0.05）. However, the changed values of scores between the two groups had no significant differences（P >0.05）. There was no moderate or severe adverse reactions occurred in SLIT group but a total of 6 moderate or severe adverse reactions occurred in SCIT group.Conclusion:SLIT has same effect compared with SCIT with a lower compliance rate but a significantly higher safety.