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An evaluation of overall effectiveness and treatment satisfaction with intravenous immunoglobulin among patients with immune thrombocytopenia
Author(s) -
Sholapur Naushin S.,
Hamilton Korinne,
Butler Lianna,
Heddle Nancy M.,
Arnold Donald M.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
transfusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.045
H-Index - 132
eISSN - 1537-2995
pISSN - 0041-1132
DOI - 10.1111/trf.13628
Subject(s) - medicine , tolerability , interquartile range , immune thrombocytopenia , patient satisfaction , adverse effect , physical therapy , surgery , platelet
BACKGROUND A global assessment of patient satisfaction that considers therapeutic effect, toxicities, and convenience is needed to evaluate the acceptability of intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) as a treatment for patients with immune thrombocytopenia (ITP). STUDY DESIGN AND METHODS We performed a cross‐sectional pilot study to assess the feasibility and usefulness of a treatment satisfaction questionnaire for adult patients with ITP receiving IVIG in an academic hematology clinic. Treatment satisfaction was evaluated by administration of a validated survey‐based tool 7 days after IVIG administration. The tool assessed treatment satisfaction across four domains (effectiveness, toxicity, convenience, and global satisfaction); results were summarized with mean scores. RESULTS Twelve patients were enrolled (nine females; median age, 44 years; interquartile range, 35‐69 years). Mean platelet increment after infusion was 54.2 × 10 9 /L (SD, 47.6 × 10 9 /L). Treatment satisfaction scores were highest in the side effect burden domain (88.2/100; SD, 19.3; higher scores indicate a lower burden of side effects). Six participants reported IVIG‐associated toxicities; most were “slightly” or “not at all” dissatisfied by the impact of side effects. The domain with the lowest score was convenience (62.0/100; SD, 24.7). CONCLUSION The assessment of treatment satisfaction using a survey‐based assessment tool was feasible for patients receiving IVIG and provided meaningful results that discriminated between domains. Patients found IVIG treatment to be inconvenient, but were satisfied with its tolerability as an ITP treatment. Larger studies are needed to determine the precise impact on each domain and the reproducibility of study results. Patient satisfaction scores can be used to compare different ITP treatments.