Mixed methods analysis of Health-Related Quality of Life in ambulant individuals affected with RYR1-related myopathies pre-post-N-acetylcysteine therapy.

PURPOSE: To characterize Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) in ambulant individuals with RYR1-RM and to determine if a qualitative PRO tool (subjective self-assessment) complements PROMIS and Neuro-QoL scales to detect changes in HRQoL in ambulant individuals with RYR1-RM post N-acetylcysteine (NAC) treatment. METHODS: The study used a mixed methods research (MMR) design applying methodological triangulation. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews using open-ended questions. Quantitative data were gathered through PROMIS and Neuro-QoL instruments. Additionally, qualitative data were transformed into quantitative data for subjective self-assessment and frequency analyses. RESULTS: Qualitative results identified five domains and 33 subdomains as areas of interest. The most valuable were the importance of social impacts, the development of several coping strategies, both physical and psychological, and the identification of fatigue and weakness as key symptoms. Data transformation then categorized more than 3100 citations on frequency analyses, globally and by domain, visit, and participant. Regarding quantitative results, there was no clear evidence that any of the three PRO tools captured positive changes as a result of NAC treatment. CONCLUSION: Qualitative results showed a comprehensive characterization of HRQoL in this population based on a symptom/patient-centered approach. These findings will inform future studies. Furthermore, given the similar findings across our multiple methods and endpoints, the introduction of MMR may be a valuable, complementary approach to clinical trials. MMR may be especially useful to incorporate in order to address and follow the FDA's guidance and prioritization on the inclusion of affected individuals' perspectives in clinical trials.

Correction to: Mixed methods analysis of Health-Related Quality of Life in ambulant individuals affected with RYR1-related myopathies pre-post-N-acetylcysteine therapy.

The article Mixed methods analysis of Health-Related Quality of Life in ambulant individuals affected with RYR1-related myopathies pre-post-N-acetylcysteine therapy, written by Carlos Capella-Peris, Mary M. Cosgrove, Irene C. Chrismer, Magalie Emile-Backer, M. Sonia Razaqyar, Jefrey S. Elliott, Anna Kuo, Paul G. Wakim, Katherine G. Meilleur, was originally published electronically on the publisher's internet portal ( https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-020-02428-2 ) on 10 February 2020 with open access. With the author(s)' decision to step back from Open Choice, the copyright of the article changed on 1 April 2020 to © Springer Nature Switzerland AG, 2020 and the article is forthwith distributed under the terms of copyright.The original article has been corrected.

Understanding Symptoms in RYR1-Related Myopathies: A Mixed-Methods Analysis Based on Participants' Experience.

BACKGROUND: In rare diseases such as ryanodine receptor 1-related myopathies (RYR1-RM), health-related quality of life (HRQoL) measures are critically important so clinicians and researchers can better understand what symptoms are most important to participants, with the ultimate goal of finding tangible solutions for them. OBJECTIVES: The main objective of this study was to characterize symptoms in individuals with RYR1-RM to inform future research. A secondary objective of this study was to analyze positive and negative sentiments regarding symptoms and treatment effects post N-acetylcysteine (NAC) administration in individuals with RYR1-RM. METHODS: The study used a mixed-methods design applying methodological triangulation. Qualitative data were collected via semi-structured interviews at three visits to characterize symptoms in individuals with RYR1-RM and to analyze treatment effects. Qualitative data were then transformed into quantitative results to measure the frequency with which each symptom was mentioned by participants. RESULTS: A total of 12 symptoms were identified as areas of interest to participants with RYR1-RM, highlighting fatigue and weakness as key symptoms. Data transformation categorized more than 1000 citations, reporting a greater number of positive comments for postintervention interviews than for baseline and preintervention visits and that NAC group participants stated more positive comments regarding treatment effect than did the placebo group. CONCLUSIONS: We present a comprehensive characterization of symptoms in RYR1-RM and how those symptoms influence HRQoL. Furthermore, the introduction of mixed methods may be a valuable way to better understand patient-centered data in rare diseases to support affected individuals in coping with their symptoms.