title: Patients perception of self-administrated medication in the treatment of hereditary angioedema.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Early therapy of hereditary angioedema (HAE) decreases morbidity, improves outcomes, decreases absenteeism, and possibly decreases mortality. This can be accomplished best with self-therapy. Previously, the authors examined barriers to self-therapy from the perspective of the nurse and the physician, but data are lacking on what patients perceive as major barriers to self-administered therapy for HAE.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To identify those barriers in a prospective fashion by patient interview.
  
  
  METHODS
  After approval from the institutional review board, a telephone survey was performed of patients with HAE from a database of patients who were recently seen in the clinic. The survey focused on anxiety, depression, stress, concerns regarding method of administration, the ability to inject themselves, and what they perceived as barriers to providing self-care.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-two patients were contacted and 59 agreed to participate. With 69% of those patients currently undergoing self-administered treatment, the results showed minimal depression and anxiety, a high satisfaction with treatment, and significant compliance with treatment. Most of those not yet on self-administered therapy wanted to start despite being satisfied with the care received in the emergency department. They also believed care at home would be optimal. The main concern of the 2 groups was not being able to treat themselves in the event of an HAE attack.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  From these data, it is obvious that most patients are willing to self-treat. This suggests that physicians should encourage self-treatment of HAE to improve outcomes and quality of life of patients with HAE.
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Adrian
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fouche
authors.affiliation: Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: tcraig@hmc.psu.edu.
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D054179:Angioedemas, Hereditary / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D050718:Complement C1 Inhibitor Protein / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051056:Complement Inactivating Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage; D012646:Self Administration / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D050718:Complement C1 Inhibitor Protein; D051056:Complement Inactivating Agents; D011994:Recombinant Proteins