Disease Modifying Therapies in the over 60s

Almost immediately, OMS forums and enquiries (and I imagine Neurologists’ offices) filled with people asking questions like

It remains a difficult question to answer when applied to “the real-world” person with MS (pwMS), many of whom had been taking, and remained well on medication for a lengthy period of time. It is extremely important then, that both pwMS and clinicians have as much information as possible to allow for informed decision making.

A new paper may add a very valuable perspective to this particular problem (2).  Published in “Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders”, a team from the United States looked at pwMS over 60, and whether stopping or continuing their medications had any impact on various health-related outcomes.

This was a retrospective, observational study (looking back at results already obtained rather than setting up a new study and testing a particular intervention) including 600 pwMS who were 60 years of age or older and had been on a DMT for 2 years or more.  

The researchers focused on patient reported outcomes (PROs) and timed 25-foot walk (T25FW) test as their key outcome measures.  In simple terms, they asked the people involved a series of standardised questions to gain an understanding of their level of functioning or disability (including mobility, fatigue, cognition, bowel and bladder function, spasticity, hand function, vision and sensation) and other measures such as pain scores and levels of anxiety and depression.  They then objectively measured how long it took the pwMS to walk 25 feet.

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