Enhancing nasal irrigation adherence through a multimodal health communication strategy: a phased improvement study
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The adherence of chronic rhinitis patients to self-administered treatments is generally very low, which often presents a significant challenge in healthcare. The adherence of chronic rhinitis patients to regular nasal irrigation hygiene care is even lower. Therefore, in this study, we designed, implemented, and evaluated a patient-centered Multimodal Health Communication Strategy intervention, that aimed to improve the adherence to nasal irrigation of adult patients with allergic rhinitis or chronic hypertrophic rhinitis. This was a healthcare quality improvement project conducted from January to July 2025 in the otolaryngology outpatient department of a medical center. The healthcare quality improvement intervention evolved in two stages. The first-stage intervention introduced a “Multimodal Educational Strategy,” combining visual aids, instructional videos, and one-on-one consultation with standard brief verbal instructions. The second-stage intervention, based on patient feedback from the first stage, further optimized the user experience by providing an ergonomic irrigation device and optionally available Herbal Tea Rinse saline solution. The primary outcome measure was that nasal irrigation adherence significantly increased from a baseline of 11.2% to 45.2% after the first stage (p < 0.001), and further increased to 75.0% after the second stage (p = 0.013). This represents a 569% relative increase (p < 0.001) compared to patients who had not undergone the Multimodal Health Communication Strategy intervention. Finally, patients who received the Multimodal Health Communication Strategy educational intervention showed an improvement in knowledge mastery from 51% to 93.8%, and overall satisfaction also significantly increased. The study concluded that low adherence to nasal irrigation is a problem that can be overcome, rather than an insurmountable communication gap between patients and healthcare providers. Systematic patient-centered education through the Multimodal Health Communication Strategy was associated with an improvement in self-nasal irrigation care adherence.
Date Issued
2026-09-02
Date Acceptance
2026-08-19
Citation
Scientific Reports, 2026, 16
ISSN
2045-2322
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Scientific Reports
Volume
16
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/42722715
PII: 10.1038/s41598-026-67975-z
Subjects
Adherence
Allergic rhinitis
Counseling
Health communication
Nasal irrigation
Patient education
Patient-centered care
Quality improvement
Humans
Nasal Lavage
Female
Adult
Patient Compliance
Male
Health Communication
Quality Improvement
Middle Aged
Patient Education as Topic
Adherence Interventions
Rhinitis, Allergic
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
England
Article Number
28365
Date Publish Online
2026-09-02