Quality of life in patients with allergic reactions to medications. Influence of a drug allergy evaluation

Abstract Background Suspicion of allergic drug reaction can cause important disturbances in the patient's life. Objective We evaluated in a prospective multicenter study the quality of life of patients who suffered a possible allergic drug reaction, and analyzed the effect of a drug allergy evaluation. Methods Patients (>18 yo) answered the specific questionnaire twice: before the drug allergy evaluation, and one month after it was completed. Statistics were performed using STATA. Results A total of 360 patients (240, 66.6% female; mean age 45.4 y, SD 15.6 y) completed the first questionnaire. After the evaluation, 150/346 patients (43.4%) were diagnosed as allergic to the drug (115/150 immediate; 35/150 delayed) and 196/346 patients (56.6%) as non-allergic. Mean value of first questionnaire was 32.14 (SD 11.84); patients with anaphylaxis, non-anaphylactic immediate reaction, with more than one drug-reaction, or a chronic osteoarticular disease, had a statistically significant higher score in Q0 (worse quality of life). After the allergy study, mean of the second questionnaire was 27.27 (SD 9.96), showing a global improvement (p 40 years-old (p=0.030), having a chronic osteoarticular disease (p=0.003) and having more than one reaction to drugs (p Conclusion Having suffered anaphylaxis, more than one reported drug allergy or presenting a musculoskeletal disease are factors that worsen the quality of life. Quality of life improved significantly after completing a drug allergy evaluation.