QUALITY OF LIFE AND EPIDEMIOLOGICAL PROFILE OF PATIENTS UNDERGOING BOTULINUM TOXIN TREATMENT

Abstract

The botulinum toxin (BTX) is a therapeutic modality used in diverse range of diseases in neurology such as dystonia, tics and tremors and spasticity. The literature about the relation between the use of BTX and its impact in quality of life scales are conflicting, our study proposes to aid answering this question. We selected 110 patients between April 2014 and January 2015, from two tertiary hospitals (movement disorder outpatient clinic), which have been evaluated for age, gender, type of BTX applied, technic of application, adverse events, clinical syndrome and etiology. To evaluate quality of life we used the SF-36® scale. The most prevalent clinical syndromes were dystonia, spasticity and daytime bruxism. We applied the scale in 55 patients pre and post treatment to trace a clinical and epidemiological profile of patients treated with botulinum toxin, evaluating its impact on quality of life. Main etiologies were: idiopathic, stroke and peripheral facial palsy. SF-36® scale applied to 55 patients showed that 35 of them improved, with higher impact upon the mental health, vitality, physical functioning and body pain subsections. Incidence of adverse events (21,8%) was similar to the literature. Botulinum toxin application was associated with higher scores on SF-36®, therefore representing a good therapeutic option dystonia and spasticity.