Pathway to care, treatment and disease burden of pulmonary arterial hypertension: a real-world survey of physicians and patients in Latin America

Abstract

Objectives To investigate clinical characteristics, symptom profile, testing practices, treatment patterns and quality of life (QoL) among patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in Latin America.Design Data from the Adelphi Real World PAH Disease Specific Programme, a cross-sectional survey with retrospective data collection.Setting University/teaching hospital, regional centres, private practices and government institutions in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Mexico.Participants 246 physicians provided data for 958 patients, of which 533 patients also self-reported data.Results Mean (SD) patient age was 53.7 (17) years, 70% of patients were female and 79% were WHO functional class (WHO FC) I–II. Overall, 76% had undergone a right heart catheterisation, ranging from 92% in Argentina to 64% in Brazil (p<0.0001). Only 28% underwent a simplified risk assessment strategy in the past 12 months, ranging from 46% in Argentina to 16% in Brazil. Fatigue and dyspnoea on exertion were reported most commonly by physicians (37% and 53%) and patients (68% and 67%). Patient–physician agreement on symptom reporting was minimal-to-weak (kappa, 0.21–0.42). PAH-specific combination therapy varied across countries (21% Mexico, 30% Brazil, 70% Colombia and 79% Argentina, p<0.0001)). Overall, 73% of patients received a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor; 52% an endothelin receptor antagonist, 15% a prostacyclin pathway agent and 11% a soluble guanylate cyclase stimulator. The mean (SD) EQ-5D (generic instrument to define quality of life)utility ranged from 0.66 (0.20) to 0.70 (0.20) across countries and the mean (SD) EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) was 67.0 (18.10). Lower VAS and utility scores were reported among patients with higher WHO FC (p<0.05).Conclusions Patients reported a high burden of PAH in terms of symptoms and QoL, particularly within higher WHO FC. Low usage of risk assessment strategies and PAH-specific combination therapy was seen in Brazil and Mexico. Further research could identify barriers to prescribing optimal treatment.