Latuda may improve life satisfaction, social relationships in bipolar depression

Latuda use was associated with statistically significant improvements on individual quality-of-life items compared with placebo among patients with bipolar depression.

Researchers reported results related to this treatment (lurasidone, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals) in a post-hoc analysis presented at NEI Congress.

“Lurasidone is indicated for monotherapy treatment of adult and pediatric patients with depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder and as adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate in adult patients with depressive episodes associated with bipolar I disorder,” Kimberly Laubmeier, PhD, director of Health Economics and Outcomes Research at Sunovion Pharmaceuticals Inc., said during a virtual presentation. “In adults with bipolar depression, lurasidone was associated with improvement in health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as measured by the Quality of Life, Enjoyment and Satisfaction - Short Form (Q-LES-Q-SF) total score. However, the impact of lurasidone on individual items of this measure has not yet been examined.”

Laubmeier and colleagues sought to address this research gap in the current post-hoc analysis of a 6-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial that investigated the safety and efficacy of lurasidone monotherapy among patients with bipolar depression. Patients underwent random assignment to fixed-flexible doses of lurasidone (either 20 mg to 60 mg per day or 80 mg to 120 mg per day) or placebo. Inclusion criteria consisted of being aged 18 to 75 years, having a diagnosis of bipolar I disorder and experiencing a major depressive episode, and having lifetime history of one or more bipolar manic or mixed episode.The key outcome measure was Q-LES-Q-SF, a 16-item self-administered HRQoL questionnaire with questions related to enjoyment and satisfaction across multiple daily functioning areas. Using an analysis of covariance model, the researchers examined change from baseline to week 6 in each Q-LES-Q-SF item score, with between-group effect sizes reported.

The analytic study sample included 245 patients assigned to lurasidone and 124 to placebo. Results showed statically significant HRQoL-related improvements for 13 of the 16 individual Q-LES-Q-SF items. The researchers noted the most significant improvements from baseline to 6 weeks for lurasidone compared with placebo in Overall Life Satisfaction and Contentment, Social Relationships, Medication, Family Relationships and Ability to Function in Daily Life (all P < .001).

“As with any post-hoc analysis, there are several limitations that should be considered,” Laubmeier said. “HRQoL was assessed based on patient-reported data, which is subject to recall bias. Also, findings could be different if an alternative HRQoL assessment was used.

“Further research is needed to understand the impact of lurasidone on HRQoL beyond 6 months,” Laubmeier added.