Healio
Healio
April 21, 2017
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Patients report adalimumab for uveitis improves quality of life

A post hoc analysis of pivotal multicenter trials evaluating adalimumab as a treatment for uveitis showed meaningful patient-reported improvement in visual functioning and vision-related quality of life.

Adalimumab is an anti-inflammatory drug approved for the treatment of noninfectious intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis and panuveitis. It was tested in the VISUAL-1 and VISUAL-2 phase 3 placebo-controlled trials in patients with, respectively, active and inactive uveitis previously treated with oral corticosteroid therapy. In the trials, adalimumab showed efficacy in lowering the risk for uveitic flare and vision loss.

The post hoc analysis was conducted on patient-reported outcomes based on the 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI VFQ-25) scores. Questions were related to several aspects of visual functioning, pain, activities, social functioning, emotional status and mental health. There were 217 participants from VISUAL-1 and 226 from VISUAL-2, including controls.

Patients treated with adalimumab reported statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in most of the domains in the questionnaire, with greater maintenance of the NEI VFQ-25 scores over time as compared with controls. Areas of most noticeable improvement were general vision, ocular pain, near vision and mental health.

“Adalimumab has been associated with improved health-related quality of life in patients with Crohn disease, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, axial spondyloarthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ulcerative colitis and hidradenitis suppurativa,” the authors noted. “We now have evidence that adalimumab is an effective and safe treatment option for noninfectious uveitis.” – by Michela Cimberle

Disclosure: Sheppard reports he has received consulting fees from AbbVie, Alcon, Aldeyra, Allergan, Bausch + Lomb and EyeGate. Please see the study for all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.

Sources/Disclosures

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Source:

Sheppard J, et al. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2017;doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2017.0603.