Symptomatic pharmacotherapy in ALS: data analysis from a platform-based medication management programme

Abstract

Although symptomatic medicines constitute an important intervention in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), few systematic investigations into drug management have been reported so far.1 Furthermore, symptomatic pharmacotherapy is constantly evolving with an increasing number of drugs being used. Therefore, more detailed information on drug prescription must be obtained to monitor the current standards of care, identify potential shortcomings in drug management and elucidate progress in symptomatic pharmacotherapy. Thus, the aims of the present study were to (i) identify the spectrum of symptomatic drugs; (ii) rank symptomatic drugs according to their frequency of use; (iii) assign symptomatic drugs to pharmacological domains and (iv) determine the number of symptomatic drugs per patient. We hypothesised that the pharmacological spectrum and frequency of use range widely. Furthermore, we supposed that symptomatic drug treatment may vary substantially among patients with ALS and may be highly personalised.