Physicians' prescribing behaviour and clinical practice patterns for allergic rhinitis management in Italy.
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ABSTRACT:
Methods: One-hundred allergologists, 100 ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, and 150 general practitioners (GPs) were recruited. The survey assessed: socio-demographic, work experience, monthly caseload, prescription drivers. Next, HCPs were invited to retrospectively recover patients' clinical data to investigate: AR clinical characteristics, therapy management, prescription patterns, patient adherence. Descriptive statistics, Chi square, One-Way analysis of variance, and Two-Way Analysis of Variance were performed.
Results: Allergologists visited more AR patients (31% of monthly caseload) than ENTs (21%, p??7).
Conclusions: This survey describes the therapeutic approach adopted by Italian physicians to cope with AR and shows that HCPs underestimated AR severity and had a non-realistic perception of patients' adherence. These findings suggest that further efforts are required to improve AR clinical management in Italy.
SUBMITTER: Passalacqua G
PROVIDER: S-EPMC7640419 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Physicians' prescribing behaviour and clinical practice patterns for allergic rhinitis management in Italy.
Passalacqua Giovanni G Musarra Antonino A Senna Gianenrico G Bousquet Jean J Ferrara Carmen C Lonati Caterina C Canonica Giorgio Walter GW
Clinical and molecular allergy : CMA 20201103 1
<h4>Background</h4>Despite availability of clinical guidelines, underdiagnosis, undertreatment, and poor adherence are still significant concerns in allergic rhinitis (AR) therapeutic management. We investigated clinical practice patterns and prescribing behavior of Italian healthcare professionals (HCPs) specialized in AR.<h4>Methods</h4>One-hundred allergologists, 100 ear, nose and throat (ENT) specialists, and 150 general practitioners (GPs) were recruited. The survey assessed: socio-demograp ...[more]
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Project description:BackgroundAn evidence-based Consensus on the treatment of undescended testis (UT) was recently published, recommending to perform orchidopexy between 6 and 12 months of age, or upon diagnosis and to avoid the use of hormones. In Italy, current practices on UT management are little known. Our aim was to describe the current management of UT in a cohort of Italian children in comparison with the Consensus guidelines. As management of retractile testis (RT) differs, RT cases were described separately.MethodsOurs is a retrospective, multicenter descriptive study. An online questionnaire was filled in by 140 Italian Family Paediatricians (FP) from Associazione Culturale Pediatri (ACP), a national professional association of FP. The questionnaire requested information on all children with cryptorchidism born between 1/01/2004 and 1/01/2006. Data on 169 children were obtained. Analyses were descriptive.ResultsOverall 24% of children were diagnosed with RT, 76% with UT. Among the latter, cryptorchidism resolved spontaneously in 10% of cases at a mean age of 21.6 months. Overall 70% of UT cases underwent orchidopexy at a mean age of 22.8 months (SD 10.8, range 1.2-56.4), 13% of whom before 1 year. The intervention was performed by a paediatric surgeon in 90% of cases, with a success rate of 91%. Orchidopexy was the first line treatment in 82% of cases, while preceded by hormonal treatment in the remaining 18%. Hormonal treatment was used as first line therapy in 23% of UT cases with a reported success rate of 25%. Overall, 13 children did not undergo any intervention (mean age at last follow up 39.6 months). We analyzed the data from the 5 Italian Regions with the largest number of children enrolled and found a statistically significant regional difference in the use of hormonal therapy, and in the use of and age at orchidopexy.ConclusionsOur study showed an important delay in orchidopexy. A quarter of children with cryptorchidism was treated with hormonal therapy. In line with the Consensus guidelines, surgery was carried out by a paediatric surgeon in the majority of cases, with a high success rate.
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| S-EPMC6251830 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Interventions: Participants of this study will be receiving prescribed medicinal cannabis product/s via their treating clinician, as per standard of care. Enrolment into the study requires their clinician to consent participants and provide relevant medical history information, prescription information and updates and regular adverse event reporting throughout the study duration (12 months observation per participant).
Participants will be asked to complete a total of 14 questionnaires at set time points throughout the study. The study progress questionnaire including additional validated measures of health-related quality of life, medication adherence and patient reported change will be completed at enrolment, and months 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 post-enrolment or until the participant ceases medicinal cannabis treatment (if prior to 12 months post-enrolment).
A short-form questionnaire focused on side effect reporting, current dose and changes to other concomitant medications will be completed at months 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 post-enrolment or until the participant ceases medicinal cannabis treatment (if prior to 12 months post-enrolment).
It is anticipated that each questionnaire will take between 5-30 minutes to complete, requiring a total of 30 minutes maximum participation each month for the 12 months of the study.
Clinicians will be asked to complete the baseline enrolment form (10 minutes to complete) for each patient at study enrolment as well as adverse event monitoring questionnaires, each taking 5-10 minutes to complete every 3 months for the period that they have patients enrolled in the study.
Primary outcome(s): The type of medicinal cannabis product/s prescribed (including the formulation, prescribed dosage and underlying medical condition) as collected by study-specific questionnaires.
[Collected at baseline, and then monthly for a 12 month period post-enrolment. ];Number of adverse and serious adverse events experienced that are related to medicinal cannabis treatment, including but not limited to, dry mouth, somnolence and gastrointestinal upset, as measured by study-specific questionnaires. These will be captured by clinicians at clinical examinations and also reported by patients on a monthly basis using the safety reporting questionnaire. The safety reporting questionnaires being used are study specific. The clinician AE reporting questionnaire is based on the TGA recommended guidelines for AE reporting which conform to WHO grading and causality definitions. [Patient reported data collected at baseline, and then monthly for a 12 month period post-enrolment.
Clinician reported data collected at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months post-enrolment. ];Change to patient-reported concomitant medications (including opioid use) over the observational period using study-specific questionnaires. [Completed at baseline, and then monthly for 12 months post-enrolment. ]
Study Design: Purpose: Natural history;Duration: Longitudinal;Selection: Defined population;Timing: Prospective
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