| Author/Editor | Seušek, Črtomir; Šuligoj, Mateja | |
| Title | Primerjava uspešnosti zdravljenja multiple skleroze z različnimi imunomodulatornimi zdravili | |
| Type | monografija | |
| Place | Ljubljana | |
| Publisher | Univerza v Ljubljani, Medicinska fakulteta | |
| Publication year | 2005 | |
| Volume | str. 35 | |
| Language | slo | |
| Abstract | Background. There are 2000 patients with multiple sclerosis in Slovenia. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is demyelinating central nervous system disease, with closely linked genetic, environmental and immunological etiological factors. There are different immunomodulatory drugs which alter the course of disease lowering the relapse rate, introducing initial relapse free interval and delaying disease progression. Aim. A lot of studies comparing drug effectiveness have been performed worldwide, none of them showing indubitable advantage of a certain drug. Considering role of genetic factors in MS we decided to compare the effectiveness of Betaferon, Avonex, Rebif and Copaxone in Slovene MS patients. Hypothesis. Our hypotheses were: there are no significant differences in Betaferon, Avonex, Rebif and Copaxone effectiveness in MS and there are no significant differences in side effects occurrence. Methods. In our cross-section study we enrolled 173 patients with MS on immunomodulatory therapy. None of them received other medications that could affect their immune system. Patients filled-in a questionnaire asking about change in relapse rate, EDSS change, relapse-free interval after beginning of treatment, side effects, sex, age, drug taking regularity, disease duration, and therapy duration. We were using one-sample T test for comparison between sample and population and binary logistic regression for questionnaire results. P values below ,05 were considered statistically significant. Results. In treatment effectiveness analysis we enrolled 150 patients, 84 of them on Betaferon, 40 on Avonex, 24 on Rebif 44, and 2 on Rebif 22. Patients who received Rebif 22 were excluded in one set of analysis, which diminished sample to 148 patients. (Abstract truncated at 2000 characters) | |
| Descriptors | MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS ADJUVANTS, IMMUNOLOGIC RECURRENCE TREATMENT OUTCOME QUESTIONNAIRES CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDIES |