Objective: To measure the impact of PSP disease severity on HCRU in a real-world setting.

Background: PSP is a neurodegenerative disease. As it progresses, patients’ motor, cognitive and behavioral skills deteriorate, resulting in problems with gait/stability, eye movements, speech, swallowing, cognitive function, mood and behavior. Patients are at an increased risk of falls and pulmonary aspiration. They not only require pharmacological intervention, but may also need supportive therapies.

Method: Data were drawn from the Adelphi PSP Disease Specific Programme, a cross-sectional study of neurologists and their presenting PSP patients in the USA, France, Germany, Italy, Spain & UK. Data were collected from July to November 2018. Neurologists provided data on patients’ consultation history, hospitalization, treatment, requirement for wheelchair and feeding tube, and other supportive therapies (such as occupational, speech and physical therapy).

Results: The study included 203 neurologists completing records on 892 PSP patients. Neurologists reported their perception of each patient’s severity, with 27% (242) considered mild, 48% (426) moderate and 25% (224) severe. As severity increased, patients had more frequent consultations with healthcare professionals (HCPs), with mild, moderate and severe patients consulting 6.1, 9.9 and 13.2 times, respectively, in the past 12 months. Additional HCPs became involved in the patient’s management as severity increased, most notably speech-language and physical therapists, with 5%, 10% and 20% seeing a speech therapist and 8%, 15% and 23% seeing a physical therapist, respectively. A rise in patient’s severity was also associated with an increase in the number of drugs prescribed for PSP, with mild, moderate and severe patients receiving 1.6, 2.4 and 2.8 medications respectively. A rise in severity was also linked to a higher likelihood of the patient requiring a wheelchair (3%, 14% & 59%) or feeding tube (0%, 0% & 20%). The proportion of patients who were hospitalized in the past 12 months also increased in line with severity (8%, 15% & 29%).

Conclusion: As a PSP patient’s disease severity increases, so does HCRU. Both the time spent treating the patients and the number of HCPs involved increase, as does resource use such as drug treatment, wheelchairs and feeding tubes.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/the-impact-of-progressive-supranuclear-palsy-psp-disease-severity-on-healthcare-resource-utilization-hcru/