Various INSs show similar safety and efficacy for treating allergic rhinitis (AR). Increasingly, prescriber decision-making focuses on the impact that formulation and delivery method have on INS sensory product attributes. We sought to determine the strength of association between detection of INS sensory product attributes and patients' like/dislike for those attributes.

We conducted secondary analyses of blinded data from a multicenter, randomized, single-blind (patient), single-dose, 2-period, 1-day crossover study in patients with mild to moderate AR receiving single doses of budesonide aqueous nasal spray (one 32-μg spray/nostril) and fluticasone propionate nasal spray (two 50-μg sprays/nostril) at once-daily recommended starting doses. Sensory attributes evaluated for detection and like/dislike were scent, taste, run down/out throat or nostrils, force/feel of spray in nose or throat, and aftertaste. Authors performed analyses on only the first dose administered and were blind to treatment.

181 patient responses were evaluated. The total number of patients detecting sensory attributes assessed varied from N=101 (scent) to N=49 (aftertaste). Sensory attributes significantly associated (P<0.05) with patients' like/dislike were scent, taste, run out of nostrils, feel in nose and throat, and aftertaste. The strongest association was with taste: 78% of patients who described the taste as very strong or somewhat strong indicated dislike for this sensory attribute, versus only 35% who described taste strength to be weak or neither strong nor weak.

INS sensory attributes have significant associations with patients' like/dislike for those attributes. Decision-making for AR treatment should involve consideration of patients' preference for certain sensory attributes.