title: Efficacy and safety of interferon beta-1b sc in older RRMS patients--a posthoc analysis of the BEYOND study.
abstract: Evidence of a significant improvement of IFNB-1b in clinical severity in the older population with RRMS has not been established so far. The aim of this exploratory post hoc analysis of the 250 mcg IFNB-1b group of the BEYOND study is to compare the efficacy and safety of older versus younger patients using a cut-off at the age of 50 and at the age of 40, respectively. There was no difference between age groups in adjusted relapse risk (age 50 cut-off: P = 0.482, age 40 cut-off: P = 0.073) nor in adjusted time to confirmed EDSS progression (age 50 cut-off: P = 0.096, age 40 cut-off: P = 0.189). There were no significant differences between patients <50 and ≥ 50 years in the adjusted annualized relapse rate (P = 0.285), whereas relapse rate was higher in the <40 as compared to the ≥ 40 group (P = 0.024). The proportion of patients with confirmed disability progression was not significantly different for the 50 cutoff (P = 0.148), whereas significantly fewer <40 than ≥ 40 patients had disability progression (P = 0.047). Only minor differences in adverse event frequencies between the age groups for the two cut-offs were seen. These results indicate that IFNB-1b is as efficacious and safe in patients ≥ 50 years as <50 years of age.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurogeriatric Medicine, Hospital Sisters of Charity, Seilerstaette 4, Linz, Austria. christian.lampl@bhs.at
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lampl
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nagl
authors.forename: Barry
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Arnason
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Comi
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: O Connor
authors.forename: Stuart
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jeffery
authors.forename: Ludwig
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kappos
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Filippi
authors.forename: Karola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Beckmann
authors.forename: Timon
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Bogumil
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pohl
authors.forename: Rupert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sandbrink
authors.forename: Hans Peter
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Hartung
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D000068576:Interferon beta-1b; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020529:Multiple Sclerosis, Relapsing-Remitting / Q000188:drug therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000068576:Interferon beta-1b; D016899:Interferon-beta