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The following is a summary of “Clinical Benefits of a Randomized Allergy App Intervention in Grass Pollen Sufferers: A Controlled Trial,” published in the April 2025 issue of European Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology by Holzmann et al. 

Symptom monitoring helps improve daily medication adherence. Controlled trials on multi-feature allergy apps remain limited. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to assess the clinical benefit of a multi-function allergy app in reducing symptoms and improving quality of life (QoL) in grass pollen allergic individuals. They also aimed to develop a symptom forecast using patient-reported and environmental data. 

They conducted a stratified, controlled intervention study from May to August 2023 with 167 grass pollen allergic participants in Augsburg, Germany. Participants were split into 3 groups using the same allergy app with increasing functions; primary endpoint: rhinitis-related QoL; secondary endpoints: symptom scores, behavior, app usefulness, symptom forecast. 

The results showed improved rhinitis-related QoL with no inter-group differences. Full app users took more medication, reported lower symptoms and less social impairment. XGBoost model predicted nasal symptoms with 0.79 accuracy and 0.78 F1-score, ocular symptoms with 0.82 accuracy and 0.76 F1-score; SHAP identified key features. 

Investigators provided a clinical benefit through the app’s pollen forecast, symptom diary, and allergy information. They created reliable symptom forecasts using high-quality, high-resolution data. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/all.16558