Author Of 1 Presentation
P1067 - Understanding the patient and clinician perspective of ideal treatments for multiple sclerosis via group concept mapping (ID 698)
Abstract
Background
Patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have an array of treatment options targeting various aspects of their disease. Clinicians should consider patient preferences when selecting from these options. The medical literature has shown that MS patients often focus on safety as the most important attribute of a medication; however, preference instruments often include preselected attributes chosen by the investigator.
Objectives
A novel online method to elicit patient-centered preferences, Group Concept Mapping (GCM), was used to generate statements defining the patient experience in relapsing-remitting MS to identify the most important, relevant, and patient-focused outcomes from patient and clinician perspectives.
Methods
Twenty patients and 14 MS specialists in the US provided statements describing an ideal treatment that would affect daily function in MS. The statements were harmonized by the research team, sorted into domains that were meaningful to participants, and rated on importance on an 11-point scale.
Results
Sixty-four unique concepts were generated by patients and clinicians. GCM analysis identified 6 domains of clustered concepts. Patient and clinician ratings were highly correlated (r=0.82); however, patients rated items within the domains of Activities of Daily Living, Prevent & Cure, and Address Symptoms as highest in importance, while clinicians rated items within Prevent & Cure, Safe & Effective, and Activities of Daily Living as highest in importance. Three of the 11 statements in the Activities of Daily Living domain were rated above the mean in importance by both patients and clinicians; these included “improve cognitive function” and “improve motor function.” The 5 statements in the Address Symptoms domain were all rated above the mean in importance by both patients and clinicians; these included “help with memory issues” and “help preserve cognition.” The statement “improve short term memory” was 1 of 3 statements rated above the mean by patients that was rated below the mean by clinicians.
Conclusions
A high level of agreement of concept importance was found between patients and MS specialists. Both tended to rate concepts relating to cognitive function more highly than the other statements. Concepts related to safety or administration of medication were not rated as highly as concepts related to activities of daily living that have more of a functional impact on quality of life.