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Patients With Hay Fever Sleep Better With Intranasal Corticosteroid Spray: Presented at AAAAI

By Em Brown, BSN

PHILADELPHIA -- March 18, 2008 -- Patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis who use once-daily fluticasone furoate nasal spray report better duration and quality of sleep, fewer symptoms on waking, and better daytime functioning than do similar patients taking oral fexofenadine.

A randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled study comparing the 2 drugs and placebo was presented here at the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting by Charles P. Andrews, MD, Director of Clinical Research, Diagnostics Research Group, San Antonio, Texas.

The study involved 936 subjects with seasonal allergic rhinitis who received 1 of 3 treatment regimens for 2 weeks: fluticasone spray 110 mcg once daily, oral fexofenadine 180 mg once daily, or placebo.

Patients were asked to assess the effects of their symptoms on quality of life and, specifically, about nocturnal allergy symptoms before and after the 2-week treatment period using the Nocturnal Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (NRQLQ).

Scores on the NRQLQ were significantly better in patients taking fluticasone spray than in those taking placebo, with a difference of 0.6 points on the 6-point scale (P < .001), Dr. Andrews reported in a presentation on March 15.

Patients on placebo and oral fexofenadine did not change significantly from baseline on night sleep duration and quality, or on daytime functioning.

Fluticasone spray has a greater effect on relief of rhinitis symptoms than the oral fexofenadine, Dr. Andrews commented. As a result, there is less sleep disruption, patients function better, and they have better quality of life during the day.

Funding for this study was provided by sanofi-aventis.


[Presentation title: Pharmacotherapy of Rhinitis: Once-Daily Fluticasone Furoate Nasal Spray Showed Greater Improvement in Nocturnal Quality of Life in Subjects With Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis Compared With Oral Fexofenadine. Poster 207]

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