Outcomes of a patient support programme for subcutaneous immunoglobulin therapy in patients with primary or secondary immunodeficiencies or chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

Background

Subcutaneous immunoglobulin (SCIg) therapy is important in the treatment of primary (PID) and secondary immunodeficiencies (SID) and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP). Patient support programmes (PSPs) help patients self-administer medication regimens and play a more active role in the self-management of their medical conditions.

Aim

To describe the effectiveness of the CSL Behring CARES PSP in optimising the quality use of SCIg in a hospital-free environment.

Design

This retrospective, observational study analysed records of patients enroled in the CSL Behring CARES PSP. Key outcomes were accessibility and effectiveness. Data were extracted from the patient database and analysed using descriptive methods.

Results

Seven hundred eighty-nine patients with PID (30.8%), SID (53.4%) and CIDP (15.8%) were enroled in the CARES PSP, 92.8% of whom were referred from public hospitals and the remaining from private hospitals. Of the total patient population, 697 (88.3%) received the nurse-led SCIg self-administration training and education (COACH), out of which 656 (94.1%) completed training and achieved competency after an average of 2.3 training sessions. The proportions of patients who achieved competency were similar across age groups and prior SCIg hospital education status.

Conclusion

This is the largest real-world evidence study that describes the effectiveness of SCIg PSPs across three therapeutic disease states. These PSPs can optimise hospital resources such as infusion nurse time and allocation of infusion chairs that were once used for intravenous immunoglobulin infusions, improve patient access to SCIg therapy and enable patients self-administer SCIg outside a hospital environment.