In patients with hereditary angioedema (HAE), treatment with long-term prophylaxis has been associated with improved quality of life (QoL) compared to acute therapy, according to findings from recent telephone call surveys utilizing 4 different questionnaires.

Results of the analysis were presented at the 2023 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (AAAAI) Annual Meeting held in San Antonio, Texas, from February 24 to 27, 2023, and published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Patients with HAE experience debilitating, unpredictable attacks of swelling. The researchers sought to establish the effects of various treatments for HAE on QoL. They theorized that individuals who were receiving long-term prophylaxis would fare better in terms of QoL than those treated with acute therapy.

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Telephone surveys were conducted among patients with HAE being treated with either type of therapy. Four questionnaires were used, each focused on a different aspect of QoL:

  • Work and Productivity Index (WPAI)
  • Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)
  • Treatment Satisfaction for Medication–9 items (TSQM-9)
  • Hereditary Angioedema Quality of Life (HAE-QoL).

The Wilcoxon Rank sum test was used to compare scores between patients on acute therapy and those receiving long-term prophylaxis.

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Results of the study revealed that patients treated with long-term prophylaxis were more likely to experience improved QoL than those receiving acute therapy in several aspects:

  • WPAI findings: Impairment in daily activities was significantly more likely to be observed with acute therapy than long-term prophylaxis (P =.004).
  • HADS findings: Anxiety and depression were both significantly more likely to be related to acute therapy than long-term prophylaxis (P =.001 and P =.011, respectively).
  • HAE-QoL findings: Significantly more disease-related stigma (P =.012), less emotional and social function (P =.029), less perceived control over illness (P =.012), and worse mental health (P =.006) were reported among participants in the acute therapy arm than in those in the long-term prophylaxis arm.

No significant differences were reported between the acute therapy and long-term prophylaxis groups on the TSQM-9 questionnaire.

“Analysis of [acute therapy] versus [long-term prophylaxis] therapies suggests that LTP with any of the [US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)]-approved therapies improve QoL more than depending only on FDA-approved acute therapies for HAE,” the researchers concluded.

Reference

Park K, Yeich A, Craig T. Evaluating the impact of acute versus prophylaxis therapy in hereditary angioedema. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2023;151(2):AB135. doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2022.12.421

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