High dose sublingual immunotherapy: Economic evaluation from an Italian observational database study

• Published in: Journal of allergy and clinical immunology Vol. 113; no. 2; pp. S106 - S107
• Main Authors: Bassi, M., Berto, P., Incorvaia, C., Frati, F., Magni, L.A., Ortolani, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: St. Louis Mosby, Inc 01.02.2004; Elsevier Limited
• ISSN: 0091-6749; 1097-6825
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jaci.2003.12.369

To evaluate the clinical and economic consequences of treatment with High Dose Sublingual Immunotherapy (SLIT) in children and adolescents, in the perspective of the society and of the Italian National Healthcare Service. The study involved one allergy center, located in the north of Milan (Italy). From the existing records of patients managed for allergic disease, we extracted all patients satisfying the following criteria: i) children and adolescents with allergic rhinitis and/or allergic asthma, ii) who had 1 year data prior to receiving SLIT; 3 year data on SLIT; at least 1 year follow-up data after discontinuation of SLIT. The following variables were recorded: outcome measures (number of asthma and rhinitis exacerbations, visits, absence from nursery or school); direct costs (euros spent on drug treatment, specialist visits, SLIT), indirect costs (costs resulting from children school and parental work loss). 135 patients satisfied the study entry criteria. Of these, 46 had perennial allergy, 89 had seasonal allergy. Gender distribution and age (mean 7.39 ± 3.6; 7.37 ± 3.62) were comparable in the sub-groups. A substantial reduction was seen in the number of exacerbations (mean 45 ± 12; 10 ± 4), specialist visits (9.9 ± 3.7; 2.2 ± 1.0) and school loss (38 ± 12; 2 ± 4) after SLIT as compared to the before period. For the whole group, the average actualized yearly cost per patient was _2463, _575, _145 respectively before, during, and after SLIT. Similar results were found for both perennial and seasonal allergy sub-groups. High dose SLIT may be effective in reducing both the clinical and economic burden of allergic disease in children and adolescents.