A European pilot study in Dravet Syndrome to delineate what really matters for the patients and families

We aimed to identify caregivers' opinions on the outcome measures that matter in clinical trials in individuals with Dravet syndrome (DS). We conducted a prospective European multicentre study based on a 11-closed questions' survey developed by the French reference centre for rare epilepsies and DS patients' advocacy groups. Items included questions on seizures and daily life outcomes that a clinical trial on a therapy for individuals with DS should target. Statistical analyses were performed to evaluate the impact of the country of residence and of the patients' age. The survey was answered by 153 caregivers (68%: France, 28%: Germany and 24%: Italy) for individuals with DS. Individuals with DS included 86 males (mean age of 11.4 [interquartile:7-20.4] years). Families ranked as important almost all the items proposed. However, items related to daily life had the highest rank in all 3 countries compared to items about seizures (p=0.02). Increase of individuals' age was associated with a higher age at diagnosis (ρ =0.26, p=0.02) and a less important impact of seizure duration (ρ =-0.25, p=0.005) and of the need of hospital referral (ρ =-0.26, p=0.005). These data can help tailor patient-centered outcome measures in future clinical and real-life trials for DS.