Table 4 Global applicability of MASK

Clinical practice

Physicians will be able to read the files of the patients in order to

 Optimize treatment for the patient and, in particular, the current or the next pollen season

 Assess and increase the adherence to treatment

 Help for shared decision making

 Prescribe allergen immunotherapy (AIT) more rapidly when the patient is not controlled despite optimal pharmacologic treatment

 Determine the efficacy of AIT in patients

 The Allergy Diary is an essential tool to provide personalized medicine in AR and asthma

Change management

The first results of MASK indicate that many patients are uncontrolled and non-adherent to treatment

Moreover, they appear to use their medications as needed and not as a regular basis as prescribed

Change management is needed

Patient empowerment

Better understanding of the symptoms

Sentinel network linking aerobiology data and control

Improved adherence

Self-management

Patient empowerment

Messages sent by the App

Clinical trials

For RCTs, it is essential to have clarity on definitions, and relevant tools. The Allergy Diary allows

 To better stratify the patients needing AIT

 To assess the efficacy of AIT during the trial

 To assess the efficacy when AIT is stopped

Observational studies are of key importance to confirm RCTs and bring new hypotheses for the treatment of AR and asthma

Registration and reimbursement of medicines

Controlled trials designed with a uniform approach will be more easily evaluated by the Health Technology Assessment agencies (such as NICE) for reimbursement. The Allergy Diary uses EQ-5D, a validated measure of utility

Better understanding of direct and indirect costs

Controlled trials designed with a uniform approach will help to synchronize data from real-life world regarding clinical effects and safety/tolerability of new drugs (post-marketing pharmacovigilance

Research on mechanisms and genetics

A uniform definition and a collaborative approach to epidemiological, genetic and mechanistic research are important and will be enhanced by the stratification of patients using the Allergy Diary

Different levels of phenotype characterization (granularity) can be applied to assess phenotypic characterization in old age subjects

Epidemiology

In epidemiologic population studies, standardized definitions and tools are fundamental. The Allergy Diary allows novel approaches combining classical cross-sectional and longitudinal studies with real life studies in large populations

Employers

AR and asthma represent a major burden for the employers, and the estimated annual costs in the EU range from 30 to 60 B€. Better control of the disease was shown to reduce costs. The Allergy Diary has the potential to improve the control of allergic diseases and to significantly improve work productivity at the EU level

Public health planning

For public health purposes, a perfect patient characterization in real life is needed to identify the prevalence, burden and costs incurred by patients in order to improve quality of care and optimize health care planning and policies

Reduction of inequities

Inequities still exist in the EU for allergic diseases prevalence and burden (not only sex/gender inequities). POLLAR will attempt to understand them and to propose policies and health promotion strategies