Comparison of rush-subcutaneous and sublingual immunotherapy with house dust mite extract for pediatric allergic rhinitis: A prospective cohort study

Background: We aimed to compare the effectiveness and safety of subcutaneous immunotherapy (SCIT) and sublingual immunotherapy (SLIT) with standardized house dust mite (HDM) extract for allergic rhinitis. Methods: Participants with allergic rhinitis selected their treatment between HDM SCIT or HDM SLIT, according to their wishes. We prospectively followed symptoms of allergic rhinitis using the allergic rhinitis symptom medication score (ARSMS), along with adverse reactions, during the dose escalation and maintenance phases for two years. We compared the outcomes between propensity score-matched groups to adjust the confounding factors. Results: After propensity score matching, 88 patients in the HDM SCIT (n = 44) and HDM SLIT groups (n = 44) remained for analysis. The HDM SCIT group showed significantly earlier effectiveness than the HDM SLIT group (median time to decrease in ARSMS [≥2 points]: 5.5 vs. 18.0 months, p