Quarter of MS Patients in UK Not Aware of Disease-modifying Treatments, Online Survey Reports

                                                                  

A recent patient survey reveals that almost one in four people with multiple sclerosis in the U.K. are not aware of available treatments that could help delay the onset of disability, even though a clear majority put disability as a chief worry.

The report, funded by Sanofi Genzyme, was conducted by Adelphi Research UK via online questionnaires given 100 healthcare specialists, including neurologists, and 120 patients with all types of multiple sclerosis in 2016. Called “The Missing Pieces,” it reports that 83 percent of relapsing-remitting MS patients ranked preventing progression and disability as their primary concern.  However, 24 percent of those who took part in the survey reported not being aware of treatments that might work to delay MS onset and progressive loss of function.

Only 21 percent of MS patients said they were actually receiving disease-modifying treatments (DMTs), potentially one of the lowest rates in Europe.

Respondents were from England (85 percent), Scotland (7 percent), Wales (7 percent), and Northern Ireland (1 percent), and included RRMSpatients as well as those with secondary progressive and primary progressive MS.

“It  is  essential  that  treatments  are considered in  a  timely  manner  to  increase  the  likelihood  of preventing  long-term  disability  and  ultimately  to  decrease  the  chance  of  MS  impacting  day-to-day quality of life,” Emma Matthews, MS Nurse Specialist at Northampton General Hospital, said in a release published by Sanofi on a company website.

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