Long-term quality of life in cervical dystonia after treatment with abobotulinum toxin A: a 2-year prospective study

Abstract

Background

The short-term quality of life (QoL) in cervical dystonia (CD) after treating with abobotulinum toxin A (Abo-BTX A) and neubotulinum toxin A (Neu-BTX A) have been studied in Thai CD patients. However; the long-term study has not been published.

Objective

The aim of the present study was to determine long-term improvement of the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) after eight injections of Abo-BTX A over 2 years in CD patients.

Patients and methods

A 2-year prospective study on the QoL of CD patients, as measured by HRQoL, before and after receiving eight injections of Abo-BTX A at 3-month intervals over a 2-year treatment period was performed. The disease-specific HRQoL was assessed before and after the treatment by using the Cervical Dystonia Impact Profile-58 (CDIP-58) questionnaire. The general HRQoL was assessed by using the Medical Outcomes 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), while depressive disorder screening was assessed by using the Center of Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) questionnaire. The SF-36 and CES-D questionnaire were administered before treatment and every 3 months before the next injection for a 2-year period.

Results

A total of 20 CD patients were enrolled from January 2013 to December 2015. CDIP-58 showed a significant improvement after long-term injections of Abo-BTX A in all domains (P < 0.001). However, only vitality domain of SF-36, which assessed general HRQoL, showed a significant improvement after long-term injections (P = 0.037). There was no prevalence of depressive disorder in all patients (CES-D score <20) in this study.

Conclusion

The Abo-BTX A injections at 3-month intervals over a 2-year period improved the CDIP-58 scores, which assess disease-specific HRQoL, as well as an increased vitality domain of general HRQoL. No patient suffered from depression in this study.

Keywords:

• cervical dystonia
• abobotulinum toxin A
• health-related quality of life
• depressive disorder
• 36-Item Short Form Health Survey
• Cervical Dystonia Impact Profile-58 questionnaire

Acknowledgments

We thank Rajavithi Hospital, Department of Medical Services, Ministry of Public Health, Thailand, for the grant support. Also, the authors wish to thank all the patients who participated in the present study.

Author contributions

All authors contributed toward data analysis, drafting, and critically revising the paper and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Disclosure

BM has received honoraria and/or travel reimbursement from Lundbeck, Pfizer, and Servier. NM has received travel reimbursement from Lundbeck and Pfizer. SK reports no conflicts of interest in this work. Narong Maneeton and Benchalak Maneeton are husband and wife. Benchalak Maneeton is Subsai Kongsaengdao’s sister.