The evaluation of symptom, medication and quality of life
scores
Symptom scores with both the total symptom score-6 (TSS-6) and the
visual analogue scale (VAS)8,9, and QoL with
VAS2,9 are applied to all patients before the
initiation of immunotherapy and in every six months until the end of the
therapy as part of a routine clinical practice at the study centres. The
TSS-6 was assessed by the sum of six symptoms related to nasal, ocular,
ear and/or palate with ratings for each symptom ranging from 0 to 3 with
a total possible score from 0 (absence of symptoms) to 18 (very
severe)2,9. VAS-symptom scores ranged from ’nasal
symptoms, not at all bothersome’ (0 cm) to ”nasal symptoms, extremely
bothersome’ (10 cm)9. The QoL scores were measured
with VAS which ranged from intolerable bothersome’ (0 cm) to ’not at all
bothersome’ (10 cm). The patients were instructed to use rescue
medication as a stepwise regiment by stepping it up when symptoms were
not sufficiently alleviated. The medication score (MS) from the study by
Gelincik et al. was used and defined according to the steps, with a
range from 0 to 6 shown in supplementary Table 12. MSs
in the pre-pandemic period were determined from the data in the medical
charts whereas MSs during the pandemic were assessed at the last
injection visit.