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Safinamide as an adjunct therapy in older patients with Parkinson’s disease: a retrospective study

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Abstract

Background

Safinamide, as a levodopa adjunct, is effective in reducing motor fluctuations in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients; however, scarce evidence is available regarding its use in older PD patients.

Aim

To evaluate the safety and tolerability of safinamide as an adjunct therapy in patients aged ≥ 60 years with advanced PD.

Methods

A retrospective study including 203 PD patients admitted to a geriatric day hospital, who were evaluated following an extensive clinical protocol. Safinamide use was categorized as never used, ongoing, and withdrawn. Potential correlations of Safinamide withdrawal were investigated in stepwise backward logistic regression models.

Results

A total of 44 out of 203 participants were current or former users of Safinamide. Overall, 14 (32%) patients discontinued due to treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs). Withdrawal was not associated with older age.

Conclusions

Safinamide as an adjunct therapy in patients aged ≥ 60 years with advanced PD was found to be safe and well-tolerated in older patients. There were no specific demographic or clinical characteristics associated with suspension.

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Author information

Author notes

  1. Maria Rita Lo Monaco and Martina Petracca have contributed equally.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Maria Rita Lo Monaco, Davide Liborio Vetrano, Domenico Fusco, Giuseppe Zuccalà & Graziano Onder

  2. Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “Agostino Gemelli”-IRCSS, Largo A Gemelli, 8, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Maria Rita Lo Monaco, Martina Petracca, Enrico Di Stasio, Domenico Fusco, Diego Ricciardi, Giuseppe Zuccalà, Graziano Onder & Anna Rita Bentivoglio

  3. Institute of Neurology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Martina Petracca & Anna Rita Bentivoglio

  4. Aging Research Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    Davide Liborio Vetrano

  5. Institute of Biochemistry and Clinical Biochemistry, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 00168, Rome, Italy

    Enrico Di Stasio

  6. Unit of Geriatrics, Department of Medicine, Campus Bio-Medico of Rome University, Rome, Italy

    Alice Laudisio

Authors
  1. Maria Rita Lo Monaco
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  2. Martina Petracca
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  3. Davide Liborio Vetrano
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  4. Enrico Di Stasio
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  5. Domenico Fusco
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  6. Diego Ricciardi
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  7. Alice Laudisio
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  8. Giuseppe Zuccalà
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  9. Graziano Onder
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  10. Anna Rita Bentivoglio
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Rita Lo Monaco.

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Conflict of interest

No conflict of interest to report.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Fondazione Policlinico Universitario “Agostino Gemelli,” IRCCS, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome, Italy. The study was carried out in agreement with legal requirements and international norms. All procedures performed in this study were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments.

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The present work adheres to the rules regulating research with humans and animals.

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Informed consent to data collection was obtained from all individual participants involved in the study.

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Lo Monaco, M.R., Petracca, M., Vetrano, D.L. et al. Safinamide as an adjunct therapy in older patients with Parkinson’s disease: a retrospective study. Aging Clin Exp Res 32, 1369–1373 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01469-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-020-01469-4

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