The effect of cetirizine prophylactic treatment for patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis

Abstract

The effectiveness of cetirizine prophylactic treatment for patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis was investigated by measuring the nasal symptom score during peak pollen exposure speriods. This study was performed in at least 3 areas in Japan: Osaka, Tokushima and Okayama for 2 weeks from March 5 to 19, 2001, and the self-evaluated nasal symptom scores were measured. Patients who had been taking cetirizine 10mg once daily prior to entering the study were classified as the treated group, and patients without any previous treatments were classified as the non-treated group. A total of 73 patients from treated group and 210 from the non-treated group were thus analyzed in this study. According to the findings, all nasal symptom scores measured for the treated group (including sneezing, nose blows, nasal obstruction, interference with daily living, and the symptoms compared to the previous year) showed significantly less symptom severity than the non-treated group. These results showed cetirizine prophylactic treatment for Japanese cedar pollinosis to be effective for improving nasal symptoms.