Patient Preference and Adherence (Apr 2020)
BetaEval Global: Prospective, Multinational, Observational Cohort Study of Patients Using BETACONNECT®
Abstract
Francesco Patti,1 María Luisa Martínez Ginés,2 Christiane Norenberg,3 Fernando Duarte Caron4 1Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences and Advanced Technologies, GF Ingrassia; Multiple Sclerosis Center, University of Catania, Catania, Italy; 2Department of Neurology, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon, Madrid, Spain; 3Bayer AG, Wuppertal, Germany; 4Bayer, Whippany, New Jersey, NY, USACorrespondence: Francesco PattiMultiple Sclerosis Center, University of Catania, Piazza Università, 2, Catania 95131, ItalyEmail [email protected]: Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) would benefit from continued long-term treatment with disease-modifying therapies, and autoinjectors may help improve patients’ satisfaction with therapy, thereby increasing adherence rates. BETACONNECT® is an autoinjector for interferon beta-1b designed to improve the injection experience for patients. The BetaEval Global study assessed medication intake in patients using BETACONNECT to further investigate the value of this autoinjector.Patients and Methods: The BetaEval Global study was a prospective, non-interventional cohort study across multiple European countries in patients with relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) or clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) who were starting interferon beta-1b treatment. The decision to administer interferon beta-1b was made independently of the study. Patients were assessed at the initial visits and planned follow-up visits at Weeks 4, 12, and 24. The primary outcome variable was compliance with therapy based on the medication possession ratio (MPR). Injections were automatically recorded by the BETACONNECT device or, in some instances, self-reported by the patients. This allowed for a complete dataset that could be used in the calculation of the MPR.Results: Four hundred ninety-eight patients were enrolled and completed 93.9%, 95.2%, and 95.4% of prescribed injections at Weeks 4, 12, and 24, respectively. Similarly, 76.4% (n=318), 76.6% (n=297), and 81.1% (n=284) of patients completed at least 80% of their prescribed injections. Median scores assessing patient satisfaction with the autoinjector were consistently high across the study.Conclusion: Overall, the results from BetaEval Global demonstrated that in this cohort of patients with RRMS or CIS on interferon beta-1b, use of the BETACONNECT autoinjector was associated with high rates of compliance, adherence, and patient satisfaction.Keywords: multiple sclerosis, interferon beta-1b, autoinjector, adherence, disease-modifying therapy
