Generic and disease-specific questionnaires are used to measure effects of AR treatment on QOL. Often, statistical differences are observed with the more sensitive disease-specific instrument but the generic instrument may lack sufficient depth to measure important problems associated with a particular condition.^{1Juniper EF. Clin Exp Allergy 1998;28(suppl):34–8.}

An open-label study of AR patients (N=651) treated in a primary care setting assessed nighttime rhinoconjunctivitis-related QOL using the validated Nocturnal Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire (NRQLQ; domains: sleep problems, symptoms during sleep, symptoms upon waking in morning, practical problems); and sleep disturbances using the validated Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI; domains: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleep medications, daytime dysfunction), at baseline and after 3 weeks of treatment with TAA AQ 220 μg QD. Changes from baseline in NRQLQ and PSQI scores were assessed by t-test methods, and Pearson's Correlation Coefficient was used to evaluate the relationship between NRQLQ and PSQI scores at baseline and study end.

Mean patient age (± SD) was 45.7 (15.5) years, 58% were female, 85% were Caucasian, and 63% shared a bed with a partner. Significant improvements from baseline overall and in all individual domains of the NRQLQ and PSQI were observed (all comparisons P<.001). There were strong correlations between NRQLQ and PSQI instruments (all correlations >0.5; P<.001).

Correlations between outcomes of generic and disease-specific instruments strongly support improvement in nighttime QOL after 3 weeks of TAA AQ treatment in AR patients.