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Abstract
Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid transition of large numbers of patients onto homecare to facilitate on-going therapy in a cohort of patients who were ‘shielding’. Alongside this, patients continued to need to be initiated on biologic therapy in spite of the pandemic. The impact of administering biologic therapy at home is largely unknown, yet crucial to optimise patient outcome and minimise steroid burden. We investigated whether there was a differential response following transition to homecare of established patients versus those newly started.
Methods Patients with severe eosinophilic asthma receiving home benralizumab were stratified according to those who had received ≥3 doses prior to COVID-19 lockdown on the 15th March 2020 (‘established’ patients) versus those who were initiated after this date (‘new’ patients). We compared the last Asthma Control Questionnaire-6 (ACQ6) measured in clinic with that collected by telephone consultation 8–12 weeks after transition to homecare. Patients were excluded if both values were not available.
Results 246 benralizumab patients were included in the analysis, of whom 49 (20%) were new. There was no significant difference in pre-biologic ACQ6, pre-homecare (baseline) ACQ6 or post-homecare ACQ6 between the new and established patient groups. Both cohorts exhibited a similar magnitude of improvement in their ACQ6 following the transition to homecare (-0.73 in the established group vs -0.73 in the new group, both P<0.0001) (figure 1).
Change in ACQ6 following transition to home administration of benralizumab
Conclusions We have demonstrated that early transition to homecare in patients treated with benralizumab is not associated with worse clinical outcomes as assessed by ACQ6. The improvements in ACQ6 were seen irrespective of whether they were ‘established’ on therapy at time of transition or ‘new’. Further research is required to understand the potential influence of lockdown and/or telephone vs face-to-face ACQ reporting.