Adherence to treatment in allergic rhinitis using mobile technology. The MASK Study

Summary Background Mobile technology may help to better understand the adherence to treatment. MASK ‐rhinitis (Mobile Airways Sentinel NetworK for allergic rhinitis) is a patient‐centred ICT system. A mobile phone app (the Allergy Diary) central to MASK is available in 22 countries. Objectives To assess the adherence to treatment in allergic rhinitis patients using the Allergy Diary App. Methods An observational cross‐sectional study was carried out on all users who filled in the Allergy Diary from 1 January 2016 to 1 August 2017. Secondary adherence was assessed by using the modified Medication Possession Ratio ( MPR ) and the Proportion of days covered ( PDC ) approach. Results A total of 12 143 users were registered. A total of 6 949 users reported at least one VAS data recording. Among them, 1 887 users reported ≥7 VAS data. About 1 195 subjects were included in the analysis of adherence. One hundred and thirty‐six (11.28%) users were adherent ( MPR ≥70% and PDC ≤1.25), 51 (4.23%) were partly adherent ( MPR ≥70% and PDC = 1.50) and 176 (14.60%) were switchers. On the other hand, 832 (69.05%) users were non‐adherent to medications ( MPR