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A survey of the factors associated with concerns about oral antihistamine use in Japanese pruritic skin disease patients

Background: To improve health outcomes during the treatment for pruritic skin diseases, it is important to understand which factors most influence patients' concerns about oral antihistamine drugs. Objectives: To survey the nature of patients' concerns about oral antihistamine drugs and to examine the factors associated with them. Methods: Patients with pruritic skin diseases expressed their concerns regarding the use of oral antihistamine drugs. The independent effects of the patients' background characteristics on their concerns were examined by multiple logistic regression analysis. Results:A total of 291 outpatients were completed the study. Overall, 32% of patients were worried about using oral antihistamine drugs. The most common concern was about their adverse drug events (except drowsiness) and the effects of long-term use. Overall, being concerned about antihistamine use was found to be significantly and independently associated with a younger age, severe itching, being a homemaker, and having previous personal experience of embarrassment due to drowsiness caused by taking over-the-counter drugs. Conclusions:Several factors are associated with altered self-reported concerns about antihistamines. Our results suggest the importance of understanding the nature of patients' fears about oral antihistamine use so that sound advice can be offered to them in a timely manner.