Physical Therapy Products Editor Melanie Hamilton-Basich
recently interviewed Anand Patel, Global Pipeline Therapeutic Neurotoxin
Lead at AbbVie, about the company’s new PSS Referral Tool that uses
red, green, and yellow classification levels to help healthcare
professionals prioritize patients at risk for post-stroke spasticity
(PSS).
Can you briefly describe your background, and how you were involved in the development of AbbVie’s PSS Referral Tool?
I am a urologist by training and obtained my medical degree from
Leeds, UK, and became a member of the Royal College of Surgeons. I have
been working with botulinum toxins for nearly 20 years and have held
positions in clinical development and medical affairs.
I have been involved in the development of AbbVie’s app used to
prioritize patients at risk for post-stroke spasticity as part of my
role leading the Medical Affairs Pipeline Therapeutic Neurotoxin Team
at AbbVie, where I collaborate on
various pipeline indications to take forward innovative advancements in
patient care. Our team at AbbVie is dedicated to improving patient
outcomes and developing innovative solutions for healthcare
professionals. The PSS Referral Tool was created to provide a reliable,
easy to use, and efficient method for identifying and referring patients
at risk of PSS, ultimately enhancing the rehabilitation process and
improving the quality of life for stroke survivors.
AbbVie recognized the need for a scientifically driven, reliable, and
efficient method to identify and refer patients at risk of PSS. This
condition can significantly impact a patient’s quality of life and
functional ability after a stroke. However, many healthcare
professionals are not aware of the signs that would suggest that a
patient with post-stroke spasticity needs referral and may benefit from
more focused treatment; therefore, many patients continue to struggle
with the functional and quality of life limitations when there is
potential to improve their spasticity.
The AbbVie PSS Referral Tool was developed to address this need and
provide healthcare professionals with an effective and highly sensitive
tool to identify symptoms and signs of PSS. By using this tool, physical
therapists enhance the rehabilitation and referral process and
hopefully more patients will experience an improved quality of life and
functional outcomes.
The AbbVie PSS Referral Tool utilizes a “traffic light”
classification system to help healthcare professionals identify patients
at risk of PSS. This tool is intended for use by a wide range of
healthcare professionals, including occupational therapists,
rehabilitation therapists, physical therapists, neurologists, and more.
It was developed so that healthcare professionals who are not
specialists in spasticity management can easily utilize the tool.
The tool works by assessing various symptoms and signs associated
with PSS and categorizing patients into three risk levels: green (low
risk), yellow (moderate risk), and red (high risk). This classification
system allows rehab professionals to prioritize those patients who may
need interventions so that they can be promptly referred to an
appropriate specialist.(What the fuck good does that do? There is nothing that will cure spasticity! Why aren’t you working on solving that?)
The PSS Referral Tool Validity Study involved 50 clinicians from 13
countries who viewed videos of patients virtually. Each patient in the
videos was previously classified by a panel of experts as either ‘red,’
‘yellow,’ or ‘green’ based on the classification in the PSS referral
tool. The aim of the study was to see if other healthcare professionals
who may use the PSS referral tool would classify the patients the same
as the experts. This approach measures the ‘interrater reliability’ of
the PSS referral tool.
This approach ensured that we could assess the interrater reliability
in a diverse group of HCPs from across the globe. The study’s findings
demonstrated a sensitivity level of 93.3% among healthcare professionals
with no prior experience using the tool. In particular, it showed that
patients requiring urgent referral were rarely misclassified
(inter-rater reliability of 69%), highlighting the tool’s effectiveness
in ensuring that appropriate patients are referred for specialist
assessment. The study’s results validate the reliability of the AbbVie
PSS Referral Tool, providing physical therapists with a valuable
resource to improve patient care.
The PSS Referral tool is available in the PSS (Post Stroke
Spasticity): Early Identification (ID) app. Interested physical
therapists can find the app on their smartphones (via Apple or Google).
Within the app, healthcare professionals can classify cases and earn
points by using the tool to identify and refer patients at risk of PSS.
The app also provides additional resources for learning more about PSS.
