TY - JOUR
T1 - Favorable benefit–risk ratio with teriflunomide treatment in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis
T2 - Results of the 2-year, multicenter, prospective, noninterventional TAURUS MS study in Austria
AU - Guger, Michael
AU - Ackerl, Michael Matthias
AU - Heine, Martin
AU - Hofinger-Renner, Christiane
AU - Spiss, Heinrich Karl
AU - Taut, Andrea
AU - Unger, Karin
AU - Leutmezer, Fritz
N1 - Funding Information: The authors declare that this study received funding from Sanofi-Aventis GmbH, Austria. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors
PY - 2022/6/1
Y1 - 2022/6/1
N2 - Objectives: A prospective, multicenter, open-label, noninterventional study assessed the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and patient satisfaction with teriflunomide therapy over a 24-month follow-up period under real-world conditions in Austria. Methods: An all-comer population aged ≥18 years was followed in clinic and office-based settings. The primary objective of the study was the annualized relapse rate after 12 and 24 months of teriflunomide treatment. Patient-reported outcomes included treatment satisfaction, health-related quality of life, and fatigue, and were assessed based on the Short Form Health-36, Fatigue Severity Scale, and Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM)-9 questionnaires. Results: Thirty-one patients were included in the analysis, 23 of whom were still on treatment after 24 months. At 12 months (n = 24), the annualized relapse rate was 0.3 (SD, 0.8), which indicated a significant decrease compared to the annualized relapse rate of 1.0 (SD, 0.9) observed during the 12-month reference period prior to treatment initiation (p = 0.009). Similarly, after 24 months of follow-up (n = 23), the annualized relapse rate of 0.2 (SD, 0.8) was significantly lower than that during the last 24 months reference period prior to treatment initiation of 0.7 (SD, 0.8) (p = 0.0003). The Expanded Disability Status Scale score remained stable over 12 and 24 months. This also applied to patient-reported fatigue of the Fatigue Severity Scale, with a mean change of 0.1 (SD, 1.0). Patient treatment satisfaction as assessed by the TSQM-9 increased for all three domains (i.e., effectiveness, convenience, global satisfaction). This was confirmed by the physician and multiple sclerosis nurse ratings of patient treatment satisfaction and ease of use. Adverse events occurred in 38.7%, with hair thinning and diarrhea as the most common. Conclusions: This noninterventional study showed a sustained favorable benefit–risk ratio for this disease-modifying treatment with teriflunomide over 24 months in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Patient-reported outcomes and ratings performed by physicians and nurses showed overall trends to improvement for patient treatment satisfaction with teriflunomide treatment and its ease of administration.
AB - Objectives: A prospective, multicenter, open-label, noninterventional study assessed the efficacy, safety, tolerability, and patient satisfaction with teriflunomide therapy over a 24-month follow-up period under real-world conditions in Austria. Methods: An all-comer population aged ≥18 years was followed in clinic and office-based settings. The primary objective of the study was the annualized relapse rate after 12 and 24 months of teriflunomide treatment. Patient-reported outcomes included treatment satisfaction, health-related quality of life, and fatigue, and were assessed based on the Short Form Health-36, Fatigue Severity Scale, and Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM)-9 questionnaires. Results: Thirty-one patients were included in the analysis, 23 of whom were still on treatment after 24 months. At 12 months (n = 24), the annualized relapse rate was 0.3 (SD, 0.8), which indicated a significant decrease compared to the annualized relapse rate of 1.0 (SD, 0.9) observed during the 12-month reference period prior to treatment initiation (p = 0.009). Similarly, after 24 months of follow-up (n = 23), the annualized relapse rate of 0.2 (SD, 0.8) was significantly lower than that during the last 24 months reference period prior to treatment initiation of 0.7 (SD, 0.8) (p = 0.0003). The Expanded Disability Status Scale score remained stable over 12 and 24 months. This also applied to patient-reported fatigue of the Fatigue Severity Scale, with a mean change of 0.1 (SD, 1.0). Patient treatment satisfaction as assessed by the TSQM-9 increased for all three domains (i.e., effectiveness, convenience, global satisfaction). This was confirmed by the physician and multiple sclerosis nurse ratings of patient treatment satisfaction and ease of use. Adverse events occurred in 38.7%, with hair thinning and diarrhea as the most common. Conclusions: This noninterventional study showed a sustained favorable benefit–risk ratio for this disease-modifying treatment with teriflunomide over 24 months in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis. Patient-reported outcomes and ratings performed by physicians and nurses showed overall trends to improvement for patient treatment satisfaction with teriflunomide treatment and its ease of administration.
KW - Annualized relapse rate
KW - Disease-modifying treatment
KW - Noninterventional study
KW - Patient treatment satisfaction
KW - Patient-reported outcomes
KW - Relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis
KW - Teriflunomide
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85126152297&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensci.2022.100396
DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ensci.2022.100396
M3 - Article
C2 - 35295745
SN - 2405-6502
VL - 27
JO - eNeurologicalSci
JF - eNeurologicalSci
M1 - 100396
ER -