Self-Management in Allergic Rhinitis: Strategies, Outcomes and Integration into Clinical Care

Abstract

Giorgio Ciprandi Allergy Clinic, Casa di Cura Villa Montallegro, Genoa, ItalyCorrespondence: Giorgio Ciprandi, Allergy Clinic, Casa di Cura Villa Montallegro, Via Boselli 5, Genoa, 16146, Italy, Tel [phone], Email [email protected]: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a common disease, characterized by typical symptoms and type 2 inflammation. Standard treatment is usually effective and safe, and most medications are available as over-the-counter (OTC). Therefore, AR patients, mostly at the AR onset or if symptoms are mild, prefer to manage symptoms themselves. However, self-management could be associated with problems, including inadequate control or medication abuse. Therefore, this paper aimed at presenting and discussing this issue. Ideally, self-management should be conducted under medical supervision. In this regard, telemedicine could represent a valuable tool for implementing self-management. Visual analog scale (VAS) is a perfect parameter to measure symptom severity, medications use, and AR control. In addition, VAS is easily monitored over time. Presently, a mobile application allows to AR patients of self-managing themselves. Therefore, mobile healthcare may supply fundamental support in communication and decision-making. In this regard, VAS represents the best tool to monitor symptoms’ severity and control over time. Finally, pharmacological and non-pharmacological remedies are numerous and effective but should be used wisely.Keywords: allergic rhinitis, self-management, mobile healthcare, visual analog scale, symptoms

Keywords

• allergic rhinitis
• self-management
• mobile healthcare
• visual analog scale
• symptoms.