Long-Term Adherence to IFN Beta-1a Treatment when Using RebiSmart® Device in Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

PLoS One. 2016 Aug 15;11(8):e0160313. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160313. eCollection 2016.

Abstract

The effectiveness of disease-modifying drugs in the treatment of multiple sclerosis is associated with adherence. RebiSmart® electronic device provides useful information about adherence to the treatment with subcutaneous (sc) interferon (IFN) β-1a (Rebif®). The aim of the study was to determine long-term adherence to this treatment in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). This retrospective multicentre observational study analysed 258 patients with RRMS who were receiving sc IFN β-1a (Rebif®) treatment by using RebiSmart® until replacement (36 months maximum lifetime) or treatment discontinuation. Adherence was calculated with data (injection dosage, time, and date) automatically recorded by RebiSmart®. Patients in the study had a mean age of 41 years with a female proportion of 68%. Mean EDSS score at start of treatment was 1.8 (95% CI, 1.6-1.9). Overall adherence was 92.6% (95% CI, 90.6-94.5%). A total of 30.2% of patients achieved an adherence rate of 100%, 80.6% at least 90%, and only 13.2% of patients showed a suboptimal adherence (<80%). A total of 59.9% of subjects were relapse-free after treatment initiation. Among 106 subjects (41.1%) who experienced, on average, 1.4 relapses, the majority were mild (40.6%) or moderate (47.2%). Having experienced relapses from the beginning of the treatment was the only variable significantly related to achieving an adherence of at least 80% (OR = 3.06, 1.28-7.31). Results of this study indicate that sc IFN β-1a administration facilitated by RebiSmart® could lead to high rates of adherence to a prescribed dose regimen over 36 months.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Injections / instrumentation*
  • Interferon-beta / administration & dosage*
  • Interferon-beta / therapeutic use*
  • Male
  • Medication Adherence / statistics & numerical data*
  • Middle Aged
  • Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / drug therapy*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Time Factors

Substances

  • Interferon-beta

Grants and funding

OF and RA have received honoraria as consultants in advisory boards, and as chairmen or lecturer in meetings, and have also participated in clinical trials and other research projects promoted by Biogen-Idec, Bayer-Schering, Merck-Serono, Teva, Novartis, Genzyme, Roche, Allergan, and Almirall; SM-Y has received honoraria compensation to participate in advisory boards, collaborations as a consultant and scientific communications from Biogen-Idec, Teva, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck-Serono, Novartis, and Bayer-Schering, and has received research support, funding for travel, and congress expenses from Biogen Idec, Teva, Sanofi-Aventis, Merck-Serono, Novartis, and Bayer-Schering; MM declares no conflict of interest; JAGM has received compensations for travel, lecturing or advisory work from Merck-Serono, Biogen-Idec, Bayer, Novartis, Almirall, Sanofi-Aventis, and research grants from Novartis and Biogen-Idec; DM has received honoraria as consultant in advisory boards, has participated and collaborated in meetings, and has also participated in clinical trials and other research projects promoted by Bayer-Schering, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Biogen-Idec, and Genzyme; EM and AR are employees at Merck-Serono. The authors received no specific funding for this work. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors [EM and AR], but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.