BetaEval Global: Prospective, Multinational, Observational Cohort Study of Patients Using BETACONNECT

• Published in: Patient preference and adherence Vol. 14; pp. 771 - 779
• Main Authors: Patti, Francesco, Martínez Ginés, María Luisa, Norenberg, Christiane, Duarte Caron, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Taylor & Francis Ltd 01.01.2020; Dove; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: adherence; Anxiety; autoinjector; Cohort analysis; disease modifying therapy; Drug delivery systems; Drug dosages; Injections; Interferon; interferon beta-1b; Multiple sclerosis; Observational studies; Original Research; Patient compliance; Patient satisfaction; Quality of life; Variables; Germany; autoinjector; disease-modifying therapy; adherence; multiple sclerosis; interferon beta-1b
• ISSN: 1177-889X; 1177-889X
• DOI: 10.2147/PPA.S245955

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. 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. 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. 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.