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Abstract
Introduction
Severe asthma is associated with a serious disease burden, partially caused by limitations in activity and work impairment.
Aims and objectives
This study aims to relate treatment with biologics targeting IL-5/5Ra to work productivity and activity in the long term in a real-world context.
Material and methods
This is a registry-based multi-center cohort study evaluating data from adults with severe eosinophilic asthma included in the Dutch Register of Adult Patients with Severe Asthma for Optimal DIsease management (RAPSODI). Patients that started with anti-IL-5/5Ra biologics and completed the work productivity and activity improvement questionnaire, were included. Study and patient characteristics were compared between the employed and unemployed patients. Work productivity and activity impairment are related to accompanying improvements in clinical outcomes.
Results
At baseline, 91 of 137 patients (66%) were employed which remained stable throughout the follow-up period. Patients in the working age category were younger and had significantly better asthma control (p = 0.02). Mean overall work impairment due to health decreased significantly from 25.5% (SD2.6) to 17.6% (SD 2.8) during 12 months anti-IL-5/5Ra biologics treatment (P = 0.010). There was a significant association between ACQ6 and overall work improvement after targeted therapy (β = 8.7, CI 2.1–15.4, P = 0.01). The improvement of asthma control of 0.5 points on the asthma Control Questionnaire was associated with an overall work impairment of −9%.
Conclusions
Work productivity and activity in severe eosinophilic asthma improved after starting anti-IL-5/5Ra biologics. Clinically relevant improvement in asthma control was associated with an overall work impairment score of −9% in this study.
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge the patients for their participation and the RAPSODI teams (supplementary material 1). Written informed consent was obtained from all patients.
Authors’ contributions
Dr. J.P.M. van der Valk is the main author and contributed to data analysis. Dr. P.P. Hekking involved in data analysis support and drafting the manuscript. Dr. S.P. Rauh contributed to statistical analyses. Dr. G.J. Braunstahl is the supervisor and involved in drafting the manuscript. J.K. Sont involved in design of the RAPSODI registry and data collection. Rapsodi team provided support as co-authors.
Declaration of interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Data availability statement
The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.