ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Effective interventions for Multiple Sclerosis require timely treatment optimization which usually involves switching disease modifying therapies. The patterns of prescription and the reasons for changing treatment in people with MS, especially in low prevalence populations, are unknown. OBJECTIVES: To describe the persistence, reasons of DMT switches and prescription patterns in a cohort of Colombian people with MS. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective observational study including patients with confirmed MS with at least one visit at our centre. We estimated the overall incidence rate of medication changes and assessed the persistence on medication with Kaplan-Meier survival estimates for individual medications and according to efficacy and mode of administration. The factors associated with changing medications were assessed using adjusted Cox proportional-hazards models. The reasons for switching medication changes were described, and the prescription patterns were assessed using network analysis, with measures of centrality. RESULTS: Seven hundred one patients with MS were included. Mean age was 44.3 years, and 67.9% were female. Mean disease duration was 11.3 years and 84.5% had relapsing MS at onset, with median EDSS of 1.0. Treatment was started in 659 (94%) of the patients after a mean of 3 years after MS symptom onset. Among them, 39.5% maintained their initial DMT, 29.9% experienced a single DMT change, while 18.7% went through two, and 11.9% had three or more DMT changes until the final follow-up. The total number of treatment modifications reached 720, resulting in an incidence rate of 1.09 (95% confidence interval: 1.01-1.17) per patient per year The median time to change after the first DMT was 3.75 years, and was not different according to the mode of administration or efficacy classification. The main reasons for changing DMT were MS activity (relapses, 56.7%; MRI activity, 18.6%), followed by non-serious adverse events (15.3%) and disability (11.1%). Younger age at MS onset, care under our centre and insurer status were the main determinants of treatment change. Network analysis showed that interferons and fingolimod were the most influential DMTs. CONCLUSIONS: A majority of patients switch medications, mostly due to disease activity, and in association with age and insurer status.
Subject(s)
Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting , Multiple Sclerosis , South American People , Humans , Female , Adult , Male , Multiple Sclerosis/drug therapy , Multiple Sclerosis/epidemiology , Fingolimod Hydrochloride/therapeutic use , Retrospective Studies , Proportional Hazards Models , Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting/drug therapyABSTRACT
The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is causing a huge impact on health, economy, and social dynamics. The world is facing an emerging viral disease for which no specific treatment is available, and many aspects of the clinical behavior of the disease are still unknown, which makes the diagnosis and management a big challenge. Various neurological manifestations have been described and associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Stroke occurs in up to 6% of all patients with COVID-19, a figure that becomes significant given the large number of patients diagnosed to date. The clinical characteristics, presentation, evolution, and prognosis of these patients seem to have peculiarities that have not been seen in previous forms of stroke. Every time younger patients are observed, without a medical history, without infectious symptoms, with serious neurological results that pose a challenging and difficult approach. This review synthesizes the information available on the clinical characteristics and the proposals for its management.
Subject(s)
Brain Ischemia , COVID-19 , Ischemic Stroke , Stroke , Humans , SARS-CoV-2 , Stroke/diagnosis , Stroke/epidemiology , Stroke/etiologyABSTRACT
El nuevo coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 está causando un gran impacto en la salud, la economía y las dinámicas sociales. El mundo se enfrenta a una enfermedad viral emergente para la cual no hay un tratamiento específico disponible y muchos aspectos del comportamiento clínico de la enfermedad aún se desconocen, lo que hace que el diagnóstico y el manejo sean un gran desafío. Diversas manifestaciones neurológicas han sido descritas y asociadas a la infección por SARS-CoV-2. El ataque cerebrovascular isquémico se presenta hasta en el 6% de todos los pacientes con COVID-19, una cifra que se hace significativa ante el gran número de pacientes diagnosticados hasta la fecha. Las características clínicas, las formas de presentación, la evolución y el pronóstico de estos pacientes parecen tener particularidades que no se han visto en las formas previas de ataque cerebrovascular isquémico. Cada vez se observan más pacientes jóvenes, sin antecedentes médicos, sin síntomas infecciosos, con resultados neurológicos graves que plantean un escenario retador y de difícil abordaje. En esta revisión se sintetiza la información que se tiene acerca de las características clínicas y las propuestas en su manejo
The new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is causing a huge impact on health, economy, and social dynamics. The world is facing an emerging viral disease for which no specific treatment is available, and many aspects of the clinical behavior of the disease are still unknown, which makes the diagnosis and management a big challenge. Various neurological manifestations have been described and associated with SARS-CoV-2 infection. Stroke occurs in up to 6% of all patients with COVID-19, a figure that becomes significant given the large number of patients diagnosed to date. The clinical characteristics, presentation, evolution, and prognosis of these patients seem to have peculiarities that have not been seen in previous forms of stroke. Every time younger patients are observed, without a medical history, without infectious symptoms, with serious neurological results that pose a challenging and difficult approach. This review synthesizes the information available on the clinical characteristics and the proposals for its management
