Background: Underestimation of relapse in multiple sclerosis (MS) is detrimental to the patient as well as to their relationship with their MS healthcare professional (HCP). Objective: To obtain direct insight into relapse prevalence, symptoms, and HCP engagement from patients with MS who responded to the Multiple Sclerosis in America (MSIA) 2017 survey. Methods: Information on patient demographics, health insurance coverage, symptoms, disability, relapses, and related HCP interactions were captured. Descriptive analyses were conducted and relapses were annualized. Chisquare tests were used to evaluate frequency of patient engagement, i.e. speaking with or seeing their HCP during relapse with annualized relapse frequency and topics discussed. Results: Of the 5,311 patient-respondents, the mean age was 51.2 years (84.3% female, 89.3% Caucasian); 40.1% were on disability, and 96.8% had health insurance coverage. A total of 72.2% of patients were diagnosed with relapsingremitting MS (RRMS); 74.8% of patients not reporting a diagnosis of primary progressive MS (PPMS) (n = 4819) were using disease-modifying therapy. In the 2 years preceding the survey, 73.1% experienced a relapse for a median number of 2 relapses; this corresponded to an annualized relapse distribution among all patients of 44.1% with < 1 relapse, 35.5% with 1-2 relapses, and 20.2% with > 2 relapses. In patients reporting relapses, 62.5% cited an average relapse duration of < 1 month, 10.9% cited 1-2 months, and 13.6% cited > 2 months (12.9% were unsure/didn't recall). Leading symptoms experienced with MS relapse were fatigue (77.4%), numbness/tingling (70.0%), and walking or balance issues (68.8%). With respect to HCP engagement during relapse, 46.9% of patients reported doing so always/often, vs. sometimes (27.3%), rarely (18.5%), and never (7.3%). The most common reasons cited for not engaging an HCP were that the relapse was not severe enough (57.9%), the HCP was unhelpful or didn't specifically tell the patient to contact them (30.9%), the treatment didn't work well or wasn't tolerated (25.6%), or the preference to manage alone (24.4%). A higher percentage of patients with 1 relapse coincided with the highest frequency of HCP engagement during relapse, and the highest percentage of patients with ≥ 5 relapses coincided with the lowest frequency of HCP engagement during relapse. Key relapse-related and MS-related topics were discussed more by patients who always/often engage their HCP during relapse. HCP follow-up after relapse was variable, with 35.0% of patients reporting follow-up within 1 month of first contact, 50.3% reporting follow-up at the next office visit, and 14.7% reporting no follow-up. Conclusion: MS relapse remains particularly challenging for certain patients; some experience > 2 relapses in 1 year, relapse durations > 1 month, and relapse symptoms that interfere with daily functioning (e.g. walking/ balance by 68.8%). Approximately 25% of patients reported rarely or never engaging their HCP during relapse. Common reasons for not e...

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Introduction: Infantile spasms (IS) is a rare and devastating form of early childhood epilepsy. Two drugs are approved in the United States for treatment of IS, H.P. Acthar ® Gel (repository corticotropin injection, RCI) and Sabril ® (vigabatrin). Given real-world variation in treatment of patients with IS, this study characterized treatment patterns with IS medications and determined all-cause health care resource utilization (HCRU) during the 90 days before initiating therapy with RCI in patients with IS. Materials and methods: Truven Health MarketScan ® Research Databases were used to identify commercially insured US patients <2 years of age at RCI initiation with an IS diagnosis, per label use, from 1/1/07 to 12/31/15; presence of an electroencephalogram following diagnosis was required to assure diagnosis. Diagnosis codes and dispensed IS treatments of interest (drug classes including corticosteroids, vigabatrin, and other antiepileptic drugs [AEDs] excluding vigabatrin) before RCI initiation were evaluated. Results: The 5 most common diagnoses other than IS observed in the study cohort (n=422) were "other convulsions," "acute upper respiratory infection," "esophageal reflux," "epilepsy, unspecified," and "abnormal involuntary muscle movements." Among the study cohort, 51.7% received RCI first; 38.9% received 1 drug class and 9.5% received >1 drug class before RCI initiation. Other AEDs were dispensed most often, either alone (31.3%) or with other drug classes (9.3%). Mean HCRU included 11.8 all-cause outpatient visits and 4.5 medications dispensed. Patients who received RCI or corticosteroids as their initial IS treatment had the lowest and second-lowest HCRU. Conclusion:In the 90 days before initiating RCI, patients with IS received multiple diagnoses and treatments, characterized by frequent HCRU. Use of RCI first (no prior IS medications) and AEDs first were associated with the lowest and highest HCRU, respectively, across all categories (all-cause outpatient visits, emergency department visits, hospital admissions, prescription medications).