A 12-month, multicenter, longitudinal and prospective assessment depicted that after a year of treatment with the standardized quality house dust mite sublingual immunotherapy (SQ HDM SLIT) tablet, individuals dealing with HDM allergic rhinitis (AR) and asthma-related sleep disorders reported decreased daytime sleepiness and insomnia.

In this exploratory analysis of the real-life CARIOCA study, the investigators aimed to examine how the SQ HDM SLIT tablet affected the symptoms and overall health of people suffering from HDM respiratory allergies. Specifically, the aim was to characterize the presence of insomnia and daytime sleepiness in patients with AR and/or asthma who received treatment with SQ HDM SLIT tablet.

Individuals initiated the SQ HDM SLIT-tablet treatment for moderate-to-severe HDM AR that persisted despite using symptom-relief medications, or for HDM-associated asthma that was not effectively managed with inhaled corticosteroids and was linked with mild-to-severe HDM AR. Sleep-related issues were evaluated through the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) questionnaire.

A total of 1,526 adult subjects were initially recruited. Overall, 1,483 subjects were incorporated for the analysis. At the beginning of the study, 41.5% of these patients experienced sleep-related issues, with 77.0% of them grappling with insomnia and 28.9% facing excessive daytime sleepiness. Notably, individuals with uncontrolled AR had a substantially higher prevalence of insomnia (83.1%) compared to those with controlled AR (52.6%).

As the study progressed, 48.3% and 59.7% of volunteers reported enhancements exceeding the minimal clinically meaningful difference on the ISI and ESS, respectively. The results were promising, indicating that treatment with the SQ HDM SLIT tablet provided significant relief from subjective insomnia and daytime sleepiness in individuals with HDM AR and asthma-related  sleep disorders.