The impact of repeated drug desensitisation on quality of life in drug hypersensitivity

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundMeasurement of disease‐specific quality of life (QOL) is crucial in evaluating the effects of disease and response to treatment. Patients' efforts to avoid the responsible medication can have a negative impact on the QOL of patients with drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs). The Drug Hypersensitivity QOL Questionnaire (DrHy‐Q) is the only specific tool measuring disease specific QOL in patients with DHRs.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effect of repeated drug desensitisation on disease‐specific QOL using the Turkish version of DrHy‐Q in a prospective multicentre study.MethodsPatients scheduled to undergo repeated desensitisations with the same drug were included in the study. Baseline DrHy‐Q scores were recorded for each patient prior to the commencement of the desensitisation procedure. DrHy‐Q scores were then calculated following each desensitisation procedure.ResultsThe study included 111 patients with two or more desensitisations (age mean ± SD, years: 53.87 ± 11.36, F/M:94/17). The drugs most implicated in DHRs were chemotherapeutics (91 of 111 patients, 82%) followed by biologicals (16 of 111 patients, 14.4%). Before the desensitisation process, the median (min–max) pre‐DrHy‐Q score was 39 (16–74). The median (min–max) DrHy‐Q scores after the first three desensitisation were 35 (19–69), 34 (15–68) and 35 (15–64), respectively. There was a statistically significant improvement in DrHy‐Q scores after the first three desensitisation in comparison with baseline.ConclusionThe health‐related disease‐specific QOL of patients with hypersensitivity to drugs significantly improved after the first three, but not after subsequent drug desensitisations, as compared to baseline.