Abstract: Objective To explore the clinical compliance to sublingual immunotherapy(SLIT)in patients with allergic rhinitis(AR). Methods From April 2014 to May 2016, 348 AR patients with dust mite allergy who received SLIT were followed up by telephone. Compliance to SLIT was statistically analyzed and factors influencing compliance were investigated. Results Among 348 patients, only 192 cases(55.17%)were successfully followed-up by telephone, while 156 cases(44.83%)did not return for additional examinations. The main reason for this loss was that patients’ phones were not accessible or they refused to answer the phone. The 192 successful follow-ups included 128 male patients and 64 female patients, with ages ranging from 3 to 69 years(17.08±13.71). The treatment time varied from one month to three years or more(because some patients could not describe accurately the specific medication time, the average medication time could not be calculated). Patients were divided by age into group A(age<14 years)and group B(age≥14 years). Concerning medication time, compliance was categorized into good compliance(time≥2 years)and poor compliance(time<2 years). Among the 192 successful follow-ups, the proportion of overall compliance was 25.52%(49/192), while the proportion of poor compliance was 74.48%(143/192).The age of male patients was 3-55(15.04±11.69)years, and that of female patients was 3-69(21.13±16.27)years. Compliance with SLIT was affected by gender(χ2=4.945 9, P=0.026). The proportion of male compliance was 30.47%(39/128), whereas the proportion of female compliance was 15.63%(10/64). In addition, compliance with SLIT was affected by age(χ2=4.257 4, P=0.039). Proportion of good compliance in groups A and B were 31.68%(32/101)and 18.68%(17/91), respectively. Among 143 patients with poor compliance, the effect of self-conscious immunotherapy was not obvious for 101 of them(70.63%). Reasons for terminating treatment included the following: symptomatic relief or control(14; 9.79%); personal reasons(12; 8.39%)as the treatment process affecting lifestyle, living in rural areas, and inconvenient traffic; mild adverse reactions to drugs during immunotherapy(13; 9.09%), family financial conditions(2; 1.40%), and other reasons(1, 0.70%), such as using Chinese Medicine instead. Conclusion Compliance to SLIT in patients with allergic rhinitis was not optimal, and was affected by age, gender, and subjective factors.

Key words: Allergic rhinitis, Sublingual immunotherapy, Compliance, Influence factors