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WEDNESDAY, April 3, 2019 (HealthDay News) — For patients with relapsing-onset multiple sclerosis, beta interferon treatment is associated with a lower mortality risk, according to a study published online March 18 in Brain<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Elaine Kingwell, Ph.D., from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues examined the correlation between beta interferon and mortality in a population-based observational study of patients with relapsing-onset multiple sclerosis registered at a clinic in British Columbia, Canada, or in Rennes, France. There were 742 deaths among 5,989 participants; 649 of these cases were matched to one to 20 controls by country, sex, age, year, and disability level at study entry.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that compared with controls, cases had significantly lower odds of beta interferon exposure (odds ratio, 0.68; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.53 to 0.89). Increased survival was correlated with more than three years of beta interferon exposure (odds ratio, 0.44; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.3 to 0.66) but not with lower exposure (six months to three years: odds ratio, 1; 95 percent confidence interval, 0.73 to 1.38). The findings were similar within sex and country and for deaths related to multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n
“Further work is warranted to assess whether this survival advantage extends to other disease-modifying therapies for multiple sclerosis and whether this observed survival advantage results in a measurable improvement in the quality of life lived,” the authors write.<\/p>\n
Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.<\/p>\n