Long-term adherence to interferon-beta treatment in a cohort of RRMS patients in Belgrade, Serbia

Objective: Long-term adherence to interferon-beta (IFNβ) treatment in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) varies considerably in daily clinical practice. The aim of the present study was to assess the frequency and reasons for stopping the INFβ treatment in our relapsing-remitting (RR) MS patients' cohort.

Patients and method: All patients with RRMS initiating treatment with IFNβ at the Clinic of neurology, CCS, in Belgrade, from January 2004 to June 2009, were included in the study. Treatment was initiated in RRMS patients with at least two relapses in the previous two years, and EDSS score at entry ≤3.5. During the follow-up, patients underwent regular detailed clinical evaluation performed by MS specialists.

Results: The study comprised a total of 290 RRMS patients. During the 6-year follow up period (mean 3.5±2.1 years), 18% of patients stopped the treatment. The main reason for treatment discontinuation was lack of efficacy (54%); 21% of patients stopped therapy because of pregnancy and only 17% because of AE.

Conclusion: The frequency of treatment discontinuation in our study pointed to the low permanent termination rate reflecting good adherence to IFNβ in our RRMS patients. Our results support the notion that long-term adherence to IFNβ treatment might be significantly influenced by optimizing the benefits to be achieved from therapy, adequate patient selection and easy accessibility of MS health professionals.