Objective: Evaluate the impact of injection interval on satisfaction with botulinum toxin-A (BoNT-A) treatment in cervical dystonia (CD) patients who have been treated for 1 year.

Background: Patient ratings of treatment satisfaction are strongly correlated with willingness to continue therapy. Little is known about the impact of BoNT-A injection interval on satisfaction in patients on established treatment.

Methods: INTEREST IN CD2 (NCT01753349) is an observational, routine-practice study following patients with CD treated with BoNT-A. This analysis compared the level of satisfaction with symptom control for subjects on established BoNT-A treatment (all subjects had completed 1-year follow-up), categorized by their most recent injection interval. Satisfaction was assessed as: (1) ‘Today satisfaction’, subjects rated their current satisfaction (end of treatment cycle), (2) ‘Highest satisfaction’, subjects rated their highest level of satisfaction over the previous cycle.

Results: Of 819 subjects included in this analysis, 498 (60.8%) had an injection interval of 12-16 weeks, 307 (37.5%) with >16-week interval and 14 (1.5%) with <12-week interval. Patient satisfaction with their symptom control at the end of the treatment cycle (Today satisfaction) was consistently lower than satisfaction at peak effect during the last cycle (Highest satisfaction) [table1]. However, levels of satisfaction were similarly high across all groups (95% CI intervals overlapped).

Conclusions: As can be expected, patient satisfaction is higher at peak effect than at the end of treatment cycle when therapeutic efficacy is waning. In this study, the length of treatment cycle did not impact patient satisfaction with symptom control (even at end of the treatment cycle). Longer injection intervals, which will not negatively affect patient satisfaction may therefore be of interest for social (fewer appointments and injections) and economic (reduced drug costs, less physician time) reasons.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/how-much-does-botulinum-toxin-injection-interval-impact-upon-patient-satisfaction-in-the-routine-treatment-of-cervical-dystonia/