Establishing the Collaborative Care Model of TCM and Western Medicine for Pediatric Allergic Rhinitis With Sleep Disorder

In Taiwan, there are many patients suffer from pediatric allergic rhinitis and lead to the medical heavy budget. The persistent symptoms would cause sleep disorder or complicated with pediatric obstructive sleep apnea. It would affect the growth development ,attention deficiency, or psychiatric cognition problems. Obstructive sleep apnea for a long time would result in cardiovascular, endocrine, and metabolic complications if not well-treated.

Patients of allergic rhinitis combined with sleep disorder are classified to moderate persistent type by ARIA, who are intractable to ordinary treatment. Investigators invited them to the integrative care clinic. In addition to the ordinary western medicine, the therapies in the integrative care clinic included herbal medicine, nasal aerosol inhalation, acupuncture, and health care education. The purpose of our study is to compared the impact of the integrative care clinic to ordinary western medicine among patients of moderate persistent allergic rhinitis combined with sleep disorder and establishing the collaborative care model of TCM and western medicine for pediatric allergic rhinitis with sleep disorder.

Investigators invited children aged below 18 years old to the integrative care clinic as experimental group, who have persistent moderate allergic rhinitis, more than 60 scores of the OSA-18 sleep questionnaire, and can accept integrative therapy. The controlled group is patients who receive ordinary western treatment. Investigators compare these two groups by questionnaires of OSA-18,SN-5, PADQLQ,SNAP-IV, the dose of nasal corticosteroid , and polysomnography.

Investigators hoped to prove the effect of integrative care clinic and to upgrade the quality and efficacy of the treatment among persistent moderate allergic rhinitis children.