Droxidopa May Reduce Neurogenic Orthostatic Hypotension Symptoms in Patients Taking DDCIs

“There were significant differences in the primary diagnoses between the groups. Parkinson’s disease was the most frequent diagnosis in the DDCI group (89.1%), and autonomic failure with no cause identified was the most frequent diagnosis in the non-DDCI group (92.9%),” Dr. Kymes and colleagues said. “At baseline, 61.8% of patients receiving DDCIs and 46.9 % of patients not receiving DDCI reported at least one fall in the last month.” The mean OHSA Item I scores at baseline were 5 in the DDCI group and 6 in the non-DDCI group.

The proportion of patients receiving DDCIs who experienced one or more falls in the past month after six months of droxidopa treatment significantly decreased from baseline, with a 36.5% reduction over the course of the study.

Among patients not receiving a DDCI, there was a 6.2% reduction in falls over the course of the study, but the reduction was not significant. Changes in the proportion of patients reporting one or more falls in the past month from baseline to six months did not differ significantly between the groups.

In addition, patients receiving DDCIs and nonusers showed significant improvement in OHSA Item I scores from baseline after six months of droxidopa treatment (change of 1.5 and 1.9 units, respectively). The difference between groups was not statistically significant.

“Specifically designed studies are needed to further examine the impact of DDCIs on droxidopa because the current study sample was not powered for subgroup analyses and all data were self-reported by patients,” the researchers concluded.

—Erica Tricarico