Author Of 2 Presentations
LB1169 - Psychological consequences of COVID-19 pandemic in Italian MS patients: a surprising resilience (ID 1668)
Abstract
Background
Italy was strongly hit by COVID-19 pandemic, therefore the Italian Government decreed urgent measures promoting social distancing in order to limit the spread of the virus. In fact, since March 11th, all not indispensable work, social, sporting, retail and recreational activities were suspended or, where possible, converted to the so-called smart-working. Fear of getting sick from COVID-19, government’s lockdown and the imposed social distancing might have an impact on anxiety, depression and quality of life (QoL) in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS).
Objectives
The aim of our study was to investigate anxiety, depression and QoL changes in pwMS during SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and lockdown in Italy.
Methods
Sixty-seven pwMS with a previous (less than 6 months) neuropsychological evaluation before SARS-CoV-2 outbreak (T0) were re-evaluated at the time of the outbreak and lockdown in Italy (T1). They underwent a clinical and neurological evaluation (at T0) and completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y1), the Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II), and Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MsQoL-54) at T0 and T1. Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was applied.
Results
BDI-II and STAI-Y1 scores did not change between T0 and T1, whereas the satisfaction on sexual function subscale of MsQoL-54 was significantly higher at T1 (p<0.001).
Conclusions
Despite the tight Italian lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fear of getting sick, we did not observe a relevant negative impact on anxiety, depression and QoL of our sample of pwMS. Contrariwise, we were even able to detect some positive effects on specific aspects of QoL, such as sexual satisfaction.
P0018 - Variability of the response to immunotherapy among sub-groups of patients with multiple sclerosis (ID 1239)
- I. Diouf
- C. Malpas
- D. Horakova
- E. Kubala Havrdová
- F. Patti
- V. Shaygannejad
- S. Ozakbas
- G. Izquierdo
- S. Eichau
- M. Zakaria
- M. Onofrj
- A. Lugaresi
- R. Alroughani
- A. Prat
- M. Girard
- P. Duquette
- M. Terzi
- C. Boz
- F. Grand'Maison
- S. Hamdy
- P. Sola
- D. Ferraro
- P. Grammond
- R. Turkoglu
- H. Butzkueven
- B. Yamout
- A. Altintas
- V. Van Pesch
- D. Maimone
- J. Lechner-Scott
- R. Bergamaschi
- R. Karabudak
- F. Giuliano
- C. McGuigan
- E. Cartechini
- M. Barnett
- S. Hughes
- M. Sa
- L. Kappos
- C. Ramo-Tello
- E. Cristiano
- S. Hodgkinson
- D. Spitaleri
- A. Soysal
- T. Petersen
- M. Slee
- E. Butler
- F. Granella
- F. Verheul
- P. McCombe
- R. Ampapa
- O. Skibina
- J. Prevost
- L. Sinnige
- J. Sánchez-Menoyo
- S. Vucic
- G. Laureys
- L. Van Hijfte
- D. Khurana
- R. Macdonell
- T. Castillo-Trivino
- O. Gray
- E. Agüera
- I. Kister
- C. Shaw
- N. Deri
- T. Al-Harbi
- Y. Fragoso
- T. Csepany
- A. Sempere
- T. Kalincik
Abstract
Background
Our current understanding of demographic and clinical modifiers of the effectiveness of multiple sclerosis (MS) therapies is limited.
Objectives
To assess whether patients’ response to disease modifying therapies (DMT) in MS varies by disease activity (annualised relapse rate, presence of new MRI lesions), disability, age, MS duration or disease phenotype.
Methods
Using the international MSBase registry, we selected patients with MS followed for ≥1 year, with ≥3 visits, ≥1 visit per year. Marginal structural models (MSMs) were used to compare the hazard ratios (HR) of 6-month confirmed worsening and improvement of disability (EDSS), and the incidence of relapses between treated and untreated periods. MSMs were continuously re-adjusted for patient age, sex, pregnancy, date, time from first symptom, prior relapse history, disability and MRI activity.
Results
Among 23 687 patients with relapsing MS, those on DMT experienced 20% greater chance of disability improvement [HR 1.20 (95% CI 1.0-1.5)], 47% lower risk of disability worsening [HR 0.53 (0.39-0.71)] and 51% reduction in relapses [HR 0.49 (0.43-0.55)]. The effect of DMT on relapses and EDSS worsening was attenuated with longer MS duration and higher prior relapse rate. The effect of DMT on EDSS improvement and relapses was more evident in low EDSS categories. DMT was associated with 51% EDSS improvement in patients without new MRI lesions [HR 1.51 (1.00-2.28)] compared to 4% in those with MRI activity [HR 1.04 (0.88-1.24)]. Among 26329 participants with relapsing or progressive MS, DMT was associated with 25% reduction in EDSS worsening and 42% reduction in relapses in patients with relapsing MS [HR 0.75 (0.65-0.86) and HR 0.58 (CI 0.54-62), respectively], while evidence for such beneficial effects of treatment in patients with progressive MS was not found [HR 1.11 (0.91-1.46) and HR 1.16 (0.91-1.46), respectively].
Conclusions
DMTs are associated with reduction in relapse frequency, progression of disability, and increased chance of recovery from disability. In general, the effectiveness of DMTs was most pronounced in subgroups with shorter MS duration, lower EDSS, lower relapse rate and relapsing MS phenotype.