Treatment of Hay Fever With the Antihistamine Desloratadine: Impact on Performance of Simple, Intermediate, and Complex Task Requirements1

Abstract

Seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR), which is known as hay fever, can diminish task performance and quality of life. Antihistamines are used to treat the symptoms of SAR. This research compared desloratadine with placebo for the treatment of SAR. Additional baseline data were obtained outside the allergy season. Nine real‐world equivalent performance scores were obtained from individuals participating in the Strategic Management Simulation. For easier task demands, no difference between treatment conditions was observed. For demands of intermediate difficulty, SAR diminished performance and desloratadine restored performance to baseline. For the most challenging task demands, desloratadine treatment improved performance over allergy season placebo treatment. The data suggest that the beneficial effects of desloratadine vary with task difficulty.