Patients' Attitude to Subcutaneous Immunoglobulin Substitution as Home Therapy

Abstract

Those patients who had changed to s.c. therapy were highly satisfied. However, others preferred to stay on i.v. treatment for different reasons. Perception of inconvenience, anxiety of side effects, but also personal traits may play a role.

Subcutaneous immunoglobulin infusion: A new therapeutic option in chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

“…20,26 In patients with PID, SCIg was even reported to decrease systemic side effects compared to IVIg or intramuscular administration. 21,32 Further advantages of SCIg include increased patient autonomy and parenteral application without the need for venous access. The easy and independent handling of infusions reduced hospitalizations, especially in the first patient.…”

“…Thus, treatment with SCIg contributes to maintenance of an independent life, and patients with PID report an improved quality of life. 21 Limitations comprise a restricted volume that can be administered in one infusion, thus sometimes necessitating repetitive dosing to reach equivalence with intravenously applied dosages.…”

Immunodeficiency: updating the personalized medicine approach to diagnostics and therapeutics

“…immunoglobulin, with perceived inconvenience rating highly as a factor influencing against sc. immunoglobulin as a choice but convenience rating highly as a positive influencing factor as is historically the case [3]. Interesting outcomes data from across the EU were presented, with a hint that socio-economic factors may have equal driving force to conventional medical ones in health outcomes and experience, areas that are clearly important for further collaborative pan-EU research [4].…”

9 Human Immunoglobulins

“…Range of Application, Dosage For continuous substitution in children and adults with primary and secondary immunodeficiency diseases, subcutaneous administration represents an important and effective alternative to substitution with ivIg (see sections 9.5.2.1 and 9.5.2.2) [22,33,46,48,55,67]. Dosage of subcutaneous immunoglobulins: Initially an subcutaneous 'loading dose' of 0.2-0.5 g/kg body weight may be required.…”

“…After appropriate training patients are able to perform selfadministered infusion therapy with or without assistance from a special infusion pump [46]. In comparison with intravenous administration, many mostly younger and working patients with antibody deficiency syndrome perceive subcutaneous self-administered infusion to provide a higher quality of life [47,48,67].…”