Patient preference in allergen immunotherapy - Understanding the patient’s view

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by SANS

Allergen immunotherapy (AIT) effectively treats pollen, house dust mite, and venom allergies, yet patient adherence can be difficult. Patient preferences are considered crucial for acceptance and persistence with AIT, but detailed knowledge about these preferences remains limited. This study used conjoint analysis to evaluate how specific attributes—product type, up-dosing posology, future risks, and side effects—influence willingness to accept AIT among allergy patients who had not previously received AIT.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Becker et al. World Allergy Organization Journal (2025) 18:101154 [http://doi.org/10.1016/j.waojou.2025.101](http://doi.org/10.1016/j.waojou.2025.101)154 Patient preference in allergen immunotherapy - Understanding the patient’s view Sven Becker, MDa, Martin Feindor, MDb,c, Anke Graessel, PhDb,c, Isabel Fernández de Alba, MDd, Katrin Birkholz, PhDb, Jennifer Raab, PhDb, Filippo Fassio, MDe, Dolores Hernandez, MDf, Neil Valentine, Mr.g, Robin Abro, Mr.b, Oliver Fuchs, MDh, Simon Blank, PhDi, Markus Ollert, MDj, k, David Gonzalez-de-Olano, MDl, Ludger Klimek, MDm, Erika Jensen-Jarolim, MDn,o, Peter Schmid-Grendelmeier, MDp, Gerald Hofer, PhDc and Matthias F. Kramer, MDb,c* ABSTRACT Background: Allergen Immunotherapy (AIT) is an effective treatment for patients with pollen, house dust mite, or venom allergy, but treatment adherence can be challenging. Patient preferences play a crucial role in acceptance and adherence to AIT, but little is known about these preferences. This study aimed to understand patient preferences for AIT and how these preferences influence treatment acceptance. Methods: A conjoint analysis was conducted among 750 participants from 7 European countries who were allergic to pollen (n = 700) or Hymenoptera venom (n = 50) and had not previously received AIT. Participants were asked to choose between hypothetical AIT products with different attributes, including product type, initial up-dosing posology, potential future risks, and side effects. The relative importance of each attribute was calculated, and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of specific attribute levels on patient preference. Results: Potential future risk is the attribute with the strongest impact on the importance score for patient preference in both pollen (44%) and venom (41%) allergic patients, followed by side effects (24% for pollen and 35% for venom allergy) . Product type was less important, with a 22% importance score in both populations, and dosing schedules were not important at all, with a 2% importance score for pollen and an 11% importance score for venom-allergic patients. Accumulation of foreign material/substance in the body had the largest negative impact on patient preference, with drops of − 24.7%(pollen) and − 23.6%(venom), respectively. Conclusions: Understanding patient preferences is essential for optimizing the design and delivery of AIT. Different side effects and risk profiles of AIT products can influence patient treatment acceptance the most, and healthcare professionals may not always be aware of it. Future research should focus on developing AIT products that align with patient preferences with simultaneously very high effectiveness to improve adherence and treatment outcomes. Keywords: Venom immunotherapy, Sublingual immunotherapy, Subcutaneous immunotherapy, Shared decision-making, Discrete choice experiment, Adherence a Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany *Corresponding author. Allergy Therapeutics, Dominion Way, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 8SA, United Kingdom. E-mail: matthias.kramer@ [allergytherapeutics.com](allergytherapeutics.com) Full list of author information is available at the end of the article. [http://doi.org/10.1016/j.waojou.2025.101154](http://doi.org/10.1016/j.waojou.2025.101154) Received 19 August 2025; Received in revised from 10 October 2025; Accepted 23 November 2025 Online publication date xxx 1939-4551/© 2025 The Author(s) . Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of World Allergy Organization. This is an open access article under the CC BY license ([http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)). 2 Becker et al. World Allergy Organization Journal (2025) 18:101154 [http://doi.org/10.1016/j.waojou.2025.101](http://doi.org/10.1016/j.waojou.2025.101)154 INTRODUCTION Patient-centered care and patient empowerment play a critical

FAQs

What was the purpose of this study on allergen immunotherapy?

To understand patient preferences regarding AIT and to determine how these preferences influence treatment acceptance.

How was patient preference measured?

Through a conjoint analysis where participants chose between hypothetical AIT products with varying attributes such as product type, up-dosing posology, future risks, and side effects.

Which AIT attributes most strongly affected patient preference?

Potential future risk had the strongest impact on importance scores, followed by side effects; product type was less important, and dosing schedules showed minimal importance.

Sep 29, 2026

Uploaded by SANS