Political Action I (An Eight Nation Study)

Extent and manner of political participation. Value orientation and political attitudes. Topics: Political interest; importance of political problems; judgement on the effectiveness of political activities; personal political activities and personal conventional political participation; attitude to repressive measures by the government; concept of democracy; trust in the government; attitudes to the younger generation; personal understanding of the terms ´left´ and ´right´; self-classification on a left-right continuum; good and bad sides of the most important parties; party preference and voting behavior; sympathy scale for parties and social groups, including among others the police, civil servants, big businessmen, unions, protesting students, ethnic minorities and the women´s movement; materialist or post-materialist value orientation; job orientation and job situation; social origins; number and sex of siblings; religiousness; parental political preferences; actual and desired income; self-estimation of one´s social class. For the young: topics of discussion and degree of agreement with parents; reference groups. Indices: political participation, political orientation, satisfaction with life, post-materialism, social and political attitudes. Demography: age; sex; marital status; number of children; religious denomination; school education; vocational training; occupation; professional position; employment; income; household income; head of household; party inclination; party identification; political discussion; membership. Interviewer rating: ethnic origins of respondent; presence of other persons; interruptions during interview; length of interview; understanding for questions; number of contact attempts; type of residential building. Also encoded was: identification of interviewer; sampling point.Umfang und Form politischer Partizipation. Wertorientierung und politische Einstellungen. Themen: Politisches Interesse; Wichtigkeit politischer Probleme; Beurteilung der Wirksamkeit politischer Aktivitäten; eigene politische Aktivitäten und eigene konventionelle politische Partizipation; Einstellung zu repressiven Maßnahmen der Regierung; Demokratieverständnis; Vertrauen in die Regierung; Einstellung zur jungen Generation; eigenes Verständnis von den Begriffen "Links" und "Rechts"; Selbsteinstufung auf einem Links-Rechts-Kontinuum; gute und schlechte Seiten der wichtigsten Parteien; Parteipräferenz und Wahlverhalten; Sympathie-Skalometer für Parteien und soziale Gruppen, u. a. auch für die Polizei, die Beamten, die Großunternehmer, die Gewerkschaften, die protestierenden Studenten, ethnische Minderheiten und die Frauenbewegung; materialistische bzw. postmaterialistische Wertorientierung; berufliche Wertorientierung und berufliche Situation; soziale Herkunft; Anzahl und Geschlecht der Geschwister; Kinderzahl; Religiosität; politische Präferenzen der Eltern; tatsächliches und gewünschtes Einkommen; Selbsteinschätzung der Schichtzugehörigkeit. Bei Jugendlichen: Gesprächsthemen und Übereinstimmungen mit den Eltern; Bezugsgruppen. Indizes: Politische Partizipation, politische Orientierung, Lebenszufriedenheit, Postmaterialismus, soziale und politische Einstellungen. Demographie: Alter; Geschlecht; Familienstand; Kinderzahl; Konfession; Schulbildung; Berufsausbildung; Beruf; berufliche Position; Berufstätigkeit; Einkommen; Haushaltseinkommen; Haushaltungsvorstand; Parteineigung; Parteiidentifikation; politische Diskussion; Mitgliedschaft. Interviewerrating: Ethnie des Befragten; Anwesenheit anderer Personen; Unterbrechungen während des Interviews; Interviewdauer; Verständnis für die Fragen; Anzahl der Kontaktversuche; Wohnhaustyp. Zusätzlich verkodet wurde: Intervieweridentifikation; sampling point

Ofatumumab versus Teriflunomide in Multiple Sclerosis

BACKGROUND: Ofatumumab, a subcutaneous anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody, selectively depletes B cells. Teriflunomide, an oral inhibitor of pyrimidine synthesis, reduces T-cell and B-cell activation. The relative effects of these two drugs in patients with multiple sclerosis are not known. METHODS: In two double-blind, double-dummy, phase 3 trials, we randomly assigned patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis to receive subcutaneous ofatumumab (20 mg every 4 weeks after 20-mg loading doses at days 1, 7, and 14) or oral teriflunomide (14 mg daily) for up to 30 months. The primary end point was the annualized relapse rate. Secondary end points included disability worsening confirmed at 3 months or 6 months, disability improvement confirmed at 6 months, the number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions per T1-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan, the annualized rate of new or enlarging lesions on T2-weighted MRI, serum neurofilament light chain levels at month 3, and change in brain volume. RESULTS: Overall, 946 patients were assigned to receive ofatumumab and 936 to receive teriflunomide; the median follow-up was 1.6 years. The annualized relapse rates in the ofatumumab and teriflunomide groups were 0.11 and 0.22, respectively, in trial 1 (difference, -0.11; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.16 to -0.06; P<0.001) and 0.10 and 0.25 in trial 2 (difference, -0.15; 95% CI, -0.20 to -0.09; P<0.001). In the pooled trials, the percentage of patients with disability worsening confirmed at 3 months was 10.9% with ofatumumab and 15.0% with teriflunomide (hazard ratio, 0.66; P = 0.002); the percentage with disability worsening confirmed at 6 months was 8.1% and 12.0%, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.68; P = 0.01); and the percentage with disability improvement confirmed at 6 months was 11.0% and 8.1% (hazard ratio, 1.35; P = 0.09). The number of gadolinium-enhancing lesions per T1-weighted MRI scan, the annualized rate of lesions on T2-weighted MRI, and serum neurofilament light chain levels, but not the change in brain volume, were in the same direction as the primary end point. Injection-related reactions occurred in 20.2% in the ofatumumab group and in 15.0% in the teriflunomide group (placebo injections). Serious infections occurred in 2.5% and 1.8% of the patients in the respective groups. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with multiple sclerosis, ofatumumab was associated with lower annualized relapse rates than teriflunomide. (Funded by Novartis; ASCLEPIOS I and II ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT02792218 and NCT02792231.)