Medtep Hemophilia Helps Patients Adhere Better to Preventive Treatment, Study Shows

Researchers report that the Medtep Hemophilia online platform helped hemophilia patients improve their adherence to preventive treatment, while increasing their quality of life and their perception of their illness.

The study titled, “Effectiveness of the Medtep Hemophilia online platform for adherence to prophylactic treatment in haemophilia patients: Results from a 1-year observational study,” was published in the journal Haemophilia.

 Improvement in hemophilia therapy, particularly prophylaxis, or preventive, therapy which is administered on a regular basis, has greatly reduced hemorrhage episodes and arthropathy (joint disease). However, non-adherence to treatment is still a major issue for patients with hemophilia.

Non-adherence can be caused by  demotivation, increasing age, lack or infrequency of symptoms, lack of time, involuntary omissions, discomfort, and the relationship with the healthcare provider. Adherence, however, is highly related to reduction in the risk of morbidity and mortality, as well as a better quality of life (QoL).

Telemedicine tools, which are used to monitor disease, communicate results and adjust doses, can help patients adhere better. However, the telehealth approach previously had not been investigated in the area of adherence to treatment of patients with congenital coagulation disorders.

The Medtep Hemophilia online platform, created by Medtep Inc., Barcelona, Spain, is an application that allows patients with congenital coagulopathies (bleeding disorders) such as hemophilia A, hemophilia B, and Von Willebrand disease to keep track of such daily condition-related events  as infusions, bleeds, physical activity, reminders, and appointments.

A team of Spanish researchers reported the results of a one-year prospective observational study that assessed the effectiveness of the Medtep Hemophilia platform in improving patients’ medical control and adherence to treatment. The authors disclosed that Medtep, Inc., and Grifols, a manufacturer of plasmatic FVIII and FIX concentrates for hemophilia treatment, financially supported the study, and that two of the authors receive salaries from Medtep.

Patients with hemophilia, older than 13 years old, learned how to use Medtep Hemophilia. Then, adherence to treatment, quality of life (QoL) and illness perception were assessed at baseline, and at one, six and 12 months.

Results show that after one year, 56.4% of patients showed continued use of the platform, while 25.6% were inactive. Treatment adherence increased both significantly and progressively during the study.

About two-thirds of patients were consistently above 80% compliance over the one-year period, which is notable since compliance in telehealth projects is generally highest in the period immediately after the start and then rapidly drops off.

Furthermore, relative to baseline, patients had an improved QoL and illness perception in most of the questionnaire components at subsequent time points. Compliant patients (more than 80% platform use) had overall better scores than non-compliant patients.

The Hemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS) test was applied at baseline and at one year. Results remained similar at the two time points, indicating a stabilization of arthropathy.

The results led authors to conclude, “The Medtep Hemophilia online platform helped the studied patients with haemophilia to improve their adherence to prophylactic treatment, while increasing their QoL and illness perception, as well as joint arthropathies stabilization.”