People with MS and their Healthcare Providers Can Contribute to a Worldwide Research Effort to Improve Coronavirus Outcomes

Collaborators around the world are implementing programs for collecting important information about the impacts and outcomes of COVID-19 infection in people living with MS and related disorders. These efforts will help healthcare providers identify the best way to handle this infection in people with MS, and will give people with MS the information they need to achieve the best outcomes. For People with MS: For people living with MS, the iConquerMS™ online portal has created a survey so that people can share their experiences coping with the COVID-19 pandemic and what their personal experience has been with COVID-19. We are interested in learning:

• What people living with MS know about COVID-19
• How COVID-19 directly affects people with MS
• If COVID-19 has resulted in a change in the treatment or quality of life of people with MS
• What factors affect individuals’ experience of the COVID-19 pandemic 

The iConquerMS platform empowers people living with MS to participate in research, and is governed and driven by people living with MS.The results will be shared with an international initiative gathering data from healthcare providers and people with MS across the world. Pooling COVID19 the data (with individuals’ privacy protected) together will help speed up research into COVID-19 and its effects on people with MS worldwide. In addition to sharing the collected data with researchers, iConquerMS will also share statistics and study results with iConquerMS participants. Join the survey or iConquerMS here Visit the Society’s Coronvirus Resources PageFor MS Healthcare Professionals: Collaborating organizations including the National MS Society and the Consortium of MS Centers have established the North American MS COVID-19 Clinical Database. Healthcare professionals caring for individuals with MS and other demyelinating diseases (Neuromyelitis optica or MOG antibody disease) who have confirmed or suspected COVID-19 are encouraged to report outcomes in a clinical data collection system. This effort is harmonized with other international COVID-19 data collection platforms. The goal is to rapidly define the impact of COVID-19 on people with MS and other demyelinating diseases and how factors such as age, comorbidities, and treatments are associated with COVID-19 outcomes.

Access the case reporting tool here

Source: NMSS