The effect of cetirizine prophylactic treatment on the quality of life in patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis. The 4^th report

An analysis of PCS/MCS of SF-36 using the Automatic Interaction Detector (AID)

Abstract

To clarify the effectiveness of cetirizine prophylactic treatment for the health related QOL of cedar pollinosis patients, we conducted this study using SF-36 during the peak pollen season. Summary scores for PCS and MCS were calculated and an Automatic Interaction Detector (AID) analysis was performed to classify the cetirizine treated patients into high and low PCS and MCS groups. The results showed the PCS score to be higher than average for the group of male office workers/government employees, and lower than average for females 50 years of age or older who had frequent ocular itching. The MCS score was higher than average for the group of males who had occasional ocular itching and no nasal obstruction, but lower than average for the group of males who had more than occasional itching and who also blew their noses more than 11 times per day. We thus found the AID analysis to be effective for accurately classifying ceterizine treated patients into high and low PCS and MCS summary score groups.