PatientsLikeMe® Online Epilepsy Community: Patient characteristics and predictors of poor health-related quality of life.

Objective: The online PatientsLikeMe® Epilepsy Community allows patients with epilepsy to record, monitor, and share their demographic, disease, and treatment characteristics, providing valuable insights into patient perceptions and understanding of epilepsy. The objective of this retrospective analysis was to characterize the profile of users and their disease and identify factors predictive of poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL), while assessing the platform's potential in providing patient-reported data for research purposes.

Methods: Data recorded (January 2010-November 2011) by Epilepsy Community members, with an epilepsy diagnosis and who reported >1 seizure, included the following: sociodemographic and disease characteristics, treatments, symptoms, side effects perceived as medication-related, seizure occurrence, and standardized questionnaires (Quality of Life in Epilepsy Inventory [QOLIE-31/P], EuroQoL 5-Dimensions Scale, 3 Levels [EQ-5D-3L], and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]).

The direct cost of epilepsy in the United States: A systematic review of estimates.

Objective: To develop estimates of the direct cost of epilepsy in the United States for the general epilepsy population and sub-populations by systematically comparing similarities and differences in types of estimates and estimation methods from recently published studies.

Methods: Papers published since 1995 were identified by systematic literature search. Information on types of estimates, study designs, data sources, types of epilepsy, and estimation methods was extracted from each study.

Descriptive epidemiology of epilepsy in the U.S. population: A different approach.

Objective: Determine prevalence and incidence of epilepsy within two health insurance claims databases representing large sectors of the U.S.

Methods: A retrospective observational analysis using Commercial Claims and Medicare (CC&M) Supplemental and Medicaid insurance claims data between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2011.

A cost-utility analysis of mitoxantrone hydrochloride and interferon beta-1b in the treatment of patients with secondary progressive or progressive relapsing multiple sclerosis.

Background: Information on the cost utility of interferon beta-1b and mitoxantrone hydrochloride, 2 disease-modifying agents approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of secondary progressive (SP) multiple sclerosis (MS), is limited.

Objective: The aim of this study was to compare the cost utility of i.v.