Allergies in America: A National Survey of Patients with Allergic Rhinitis

1
Allergies in America A Landmark Survey of Nasal
Allergy Sufferers Executive Summary
Conducted by Schulman, Ronca Bucuvalas,
Inc. February 17, 2006
2
Study Design
Population Sampling Frame Interview Length Completed Sample
Population Aged 18 National RDD 34.8 minutes 2,500
Cross-section 1/4/06-1/31/06 Cross-section 1/4/06-1/31/06 Cross-section 1/4/06-1/31/06 Cross-section 1/4/06-1/31/06
Health Professionals Doctors -- Adult Primary Care -- Allergy -- Otolaryngology Nurse practitioners Physician assistants AMA/AOA Master List Licensing Boards American Academy of Physician Assistants 19.4 minutes 100 100 100 50 50
Physician Survey 1/17/06-2/14/06 Physician Survey 1/17/06-2/14/06 Physician Survey 1/17/06-2/14/06 Physician Survey 1/17/06-2/14/06
3
Adults Diagnosed with Nasal Allergies Household
Screening
QA. Including yourself, how many persons, aged
18 and older, live in this household (even if
they are not there right now)? QB. Have any of
these persons been diagnosed as having hay fever,
rhinitis, or nasal allergies? QC. How many
persons, 18 or older, in this household have been
diagnosed with hay fever, rhinitis or nasal
allergies? N61,655 adults in 31,470 households

4
Seasonal or Persistent Allergies
Q12. Would you describe your nasal allergies as
seasonal or do they occur throughout the year?
N2,500
5
Symptoms During Worst Month
Q14. During the worst one month period in the
past year, did you have (symptom) every day, most
days a week, a few days a week, a few days a
month, less than that, or never? Unweighted
N2,500
6
How Bothersome are Symptoms
Q15. When you have nasal allergy attacks, how
bothersome are the following symptoms usually ---
extremely bothersome, moderately bothersome,
slightly bothersome, or not bothersome? N2,500
7
Most Bothersome Symptom
Q16. Which of these symptoms was the most
bothersome to you? Base Had bothersome symptoms
N2,362
8
Degree of Discomfort from Allergies
Q17. In general, when you have a nasal allergy
attack would you say that your discomfort is
usually something you can ignore, you cant
ignore it, but you can tolerate it, or you cant
tolerate it without relief? N2,500
9
Symptoms During Worst Month
Q30. During allergy season, how often do you feel
(ITEM) frequently, sometimes, rarely or never?
N2,500
10
Impact of Allergies on Daily Life
Q31. During allergy season, would you say the
condition impacted your daily life ..? N2,500
11
Work Interference from Nasal Allergies
Q22a. Have you missed work in the past 12 months
due to your nasal allergies? Q23a. Aside from
actually missing work, have your nasal allergy
symptoms in the past 12 months interfered with
your performance at work? Base Employed full
time N1,315
12
Productivity and Allergies
Mean Productivity
Q24. Thinking about your productivity on a scale
of 0 to 100, where 100 means 100 productivity,
where would your rank your productivity on days
when you dont have nasal allergy symptoms? Q25.
Where would you rank your productivity on the
same scale of 0 to 100 when your nasal
allergies are at their worst?
Base Employed full time N1,315
13
Seen Doctor for Nasal Allergies in Past 12 Months
by Symptom Severity
Q42a. Have you seen a health practitioner about
your nasal allergies in the past 12 months? Q33.
How would you describe your nasal allergy
symptoms during the last week? Would you say
that you had no symptoms, mild symptoms,
moderate symptoms or severe symptoms? N 2,500
14
Medicine for Allergies in Past 4 Weeks
Q63a. In the past 4 weeks, have you used any
over-the-counter, non-prescription medicine to
give you relief from nasal allergy symptoms?
Q63b. When was the most recent time that you used
an over the counter, non- prescription medicine
for relief from nasal allergy symptoms? Q64a. In
the past 4 weeks, have you used any prescription
nasal spray for your nasal allergies? Q64b. When
was the most recent time that you used a
prescription nasal spray for your nasal
allergies? Q72a. Have you taken any other
prescription medications for your nasal
allergies in the past 4 weeks? N2,500
15
Satisfaction with Recent Rx Nasal Spray for Nasal
Allergies
Q63f. How satisfied are you with the
over-the-counter medicine you used for your nasal
allergies in the past 4 weeks? Q70a. How
satisfied are you with the prescription nasal
spray you used for your nasal allergies in the
past 4 weeks? Q78. How satisfied are you with
the other prescription medicine you used for your
nasal allergies in the past 4 weeks?
16
How Many Symptoms Relieved by Nasal Spray
Q65. Does your current prescription nasal spray
give you relief from all of your symptoms, most
symptoms, some symptoms, or no symptoms? Base
Use prescription nasal spray. N919

17
How Quickly Does it Relieve
Q68. How long does it take for your current
prescription nasal spray to begin giving you
symptom relief? Base Use prescription nasal
spray N919
18
Does Effectiveness Wear Off
Q69a. Does your current prescription nasal spray
lose effectiveness over the course of the day or
night, or does it remain as effective as when
you first took it? Base Use prescription
nasal spray N919
19
When Begins Losing Effectiveness
Q69b. How long after taking your current nasal
allergy medicine does it begin losing
effectiveness? Base Nasal spray loses
effectiveness N440
20
Change Prescription Medicines for Nasal
Allergies
Q81a. How often do you change nasal allergy
medicines ---several times each year, once a
year, every few years, only rarely or never?
N2,500
21
Why Changed Medicine for Nasal Allergies
Q81b. Why have you changed nasal allergy
medicines? Anything else? Base Have changed
nasal allergy medicines N1,723
22
Asked Doctor to Change Medication
Q82a. Have you ever asked your doctor to change
your nasal allergy medication because you were
dissatisfied with it? N2,500

23
Why Dissatisfied with Nasal Allergy Medicine
Q82c. Why were you dissatisfied with that
medicine? Base Have
asked doctor to change nasal allergy medicines
N860
24
Effectiveness Ever Wore Off before 24 Hours
Q87a. Have you ever found that the effectiveness
of a product that promised 24 hour relief began
wearing off earlier? N2,500

25
When Does Effectiveness Wear Off
Q87c. About how long after you started taking it
does a nasal allergy medicines effectiveness
begin wearing off? Base Found nasal allergy
medicine offering 24 hour relief wearing off
N1,461
26
Stopped Taking Because Effectiveness Wore Off
Q87d. Have you ever stopped taking a product for
your nasal allergies because its effectiveness
had worn off?
27
Effectiveness Wears Off Over Time
Q88a. Have you ever found that a products
effectiveness in treating your nasal allergy
symptoms wears off over time even when you are
taking the medicine as prescribed? Q88b. Has this
happened to you with more than one nasal allergy
product? N2,500
28
When Does Effectiveness Wear Off
Q88c. About how long after you started taking it
does a nasal allergy medicines effectiveness
begin wearing off even when taken as prescribed?
Base Found nasal allergy medicine wearing off
N1,364
29
Stopped Taking Because Effectiveness Wore Off
Q88d. Have you ever stopped taking a product for
your nasal allergies because its effectiveness
had worn off?
30
Side Effects of Allergy Medicines
Q90. How many of the medicines that you have
taken for allergy had the following types of side
effects --- all, most, some, few or none?
N2,500
31
How Bothersome are Side Effects
Q91. How bothersome are the following side
effects of nasal allergy medicines --- extremely,
moderately, slightly or not bothersome? N2,500
32
Reason Stopped Taking Nasal Allergy Prescription
Q94. Have you ever stopped taking a nasal allergy
medicine prescribed by your doctor because.
N2,500
33
How often Patients Follow Advice
Q19. Would you say that most of your patients
with allergic rhinitis follow your advice on the
management and treatment of nasal allergies?
N400 PQ49. Would you say that you follow your
health practitioners advice on the management
and treatment of your nasal allergies all of
the time, most of the time, some of the time,
rarely or never? N2,500
34
Failed to Follow Physician Instructions
Q108. People with nasal allergies sometimes fail
to follow their physicians instructions about
their medicines for allergies. Have you ever
failed to take an allergy medicine as prescribed
because of N2,500
35
Important for Nasal Allergy Medicine
Q98. In choosing a nasal allergy medicine, which
would be the most important to you ? Q99. What
would be the next most important to you? N2,500
36
Discomfort During Allergy Attack
Q8. In general, would you say that patients
discomfort during a nasal allergy attack is
usually something they can ignore, they cant
ignore it, but they can tolerate it, or they
cant tolerate it without relief? N400 PQ17.
In general, when you have a nasal allergy attack
would you say that your discomfort is usually
something you can ignore, you cant ignore it,
but you can tolerate it, or you cant tolerate it
without relief? N2,500
37
Productivity when Nasal Allergies are at Their
Worst
Q10. Thinking about productivity at work on a
scale from 0 to 100, where 100 means 100
productivity, where would you rank the
productivity of persons with allergic rhinitis,
when their nasal allergies are at their worst?
N400 PQ25. Where would you rank your
productivity on the same scale of 0 to 100 when
your nasal allergies are at their worst? Base
Employed full time N1,315
38
Percent of Patients Very Satisfied With Disease
Management
Q20. Approximately, what proportion of your
patients with nasal allergies would you say are
VERY satisfied with the management of their
disease? Would you say N400 PQ51. Overall,
how satisfied are you with your health
practitioners management and treatment of your
nasal allergies? N2,500
39
Satisfaction of Patients with Intra-nasal
Corticosteroids
Q36. In general, how satisfied are your allergic
rhinitis patients with their intra-nasal
corticosteroids? Would you say that they are
very satisfied, somewhat satisfied, somewhat
dissatisfied, or very dissatisfied? N400 PQ70b.
In general, how satisfied have you been with the
prescription nasal spray you have used for your
nasal allergies in the past? Base Ever used Rx
nasal spray for nasal allergies N2,033
40
Patients Get Monies Worth from Rx
Medicines
Q30. Overall, do your patients feel they get
their moneys worth out of prescription medicines
for nasal allergies? N400 PQ97. Overall, do
you feel that patients get their moneys worth
out of prescription medicines for nasal
allergies? N2,500
41
Opinions About Nasal Allergies
Q44. Now I am going to read you a series of
statements. As I read each statement, please tell
me whether you agree strongly, agree somewhat,
disagree somewhat or disagree strongly with the
statement. N400 PQ110. Now I am going to read
you a series of statements. As I read each
statement , please tell me whether you agree
strongly, agree somewhat, disagree somewhat or
disagree strongly with the statement N2,500
42
Need for Better Education of Patients
Q45. How much need do you think there is for
better education of PEOPLE WITH NASAL ALLERGIES
about their condition and its treatment? Do you
think there is a N400 PQ113. How much need do
you think there is for better education of people
with nasal allergies about their condition and
its treatment? N2,500
43
Aware of Professional Guidelines
Q46a. Are you aware of any professional
guidelines for the diagnosis and management of
allergic rhinitis? N400
44
Publisher of Guidelines
Q46b. Who publishes those guidelines? Base
Aware of Guidelines N260