NEW YORK, May 21, 2018 – New real-world research by Kantar Health and Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Sunovion) suggests that high patient-reported adherence to sodium channel blocker (SCB) epilepsy drug treatments resulted in statistically and clinically meaningful improvements in health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The findings will be detailed in a podium presentation on May 22, 2018 at the upcoming International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) 2018 meeting in Baltimore.
"While we know that higher adherence is associated with better health-related quality of life, there's limited research on the benefits of adherence to SCB antiepileptic drug treatments among patients with epilepsy," said study researcher Lulu K. Lee, PhD, Director of Health Outcomes Research for Kantar Health, a global leader in healthcare market research and consulting. "What's unique about this real-world assessment of epilepsy patients on sodium channel blockers is that it may be the first study focused on examining the association between adherence and patient-reported outcomes within this class of medicines."
In the study, conducted jointly between Kantar Health's Dr. Lulu Lee and Sunovion's Dr. Krithika Rajagopalan, data from Kantar Health's 2017 U.S. National Health and Wellness Survey (NHWS) – a nationally representative, self-administered, internet-based survey of adults – were analyzed, and respondents with a self-reported diagnosis of epilepsy who were taking an SCB medicine for epilepsy were categorized into low/medium adherence and high adherence groups based on Morisky Medication Adherence scores. The study – "The Association between Anti-Epileptic Drugs Adherence to Sodium Channel Blockers and Health-Related Quality of Life: Analysis of U.S. Survey Data from Patients with Epilepsy" – is a finalist for an ISPOR Research Podium Presentation Award.
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