Contributions
Abstract: P835
Type: Poster
Abstract Category: Clinical aspects of MS - 1 Diagnosis and differential diagnosis
Background: PPMS affects 10-15% of patients with MS and as a less frequently occurring form of MS can often be misdiagnosed.
Objective: To assess the rates of neurologist-reported misdiagnosis in both Europe and the United States (US) and establish factors which may lead to increased probability of a misdiagnosis.
Methods: The Ipsos Healthcare Global MS Therapy Monitor, a multi-year, multi-centre retrospective chart-review study of MS patients is run on a bi-annual basis in 5EU (UK/Germany/France/Italy/Spain) and US since 1997 to collect de-identified data on diagnosis, clinical status, and treatment patterns. HCPs are screened for practice duration (≥3yrs) and patient volume (≥15 MS patients/mo) and recruited from a large panel to be geographically representative within respective countries. HCPs collect de-identified anonymous data from the next 10 consecutive MS patients within the respective study windows. Charts of patients with PPMS abstracted in Q4 (September through December) 2016 were included.
Results: A total of N=278 (5EU) and N=99 (US) charts were included. PPMS patients were predominantly male (56.1% and 62.6% in 5EU and US, respectively) and had a mean age of approximately 50 years (48.7 and 51.3, respectively). 16.5% of patients in the 5EU and 37.4% of patients in the US were first diagnosed with another condition other than PPMS. In the 5EU, the most common conditions that were initially diagnosed instead were relapsing remitting MS (RRMS; 17.4%), bone disease (8.7%), back problems (8.7%), cervical myelopathy (6.5%), myelitis (6.5%), or sciatica (6.5%). In the US, 43.2% of the initial misdiagnoses were RRMS. Few patient characteristics were predictive of misdiagnosis; in the 5EU, patients who were initially misdiagnosed were more likely to have severe MS than those who were not misdiagnosed (37.0% vs. 29.4%, respectively, had severe MS).
Conclusions: The results suggest 20-40% of patients with PPMS are initially diagnosed with another condition (often RRMS but also other neuromuscular disorders). There was no clear association between the characteristics of the patient and their probability for a misdiagnosis. Further research is needed to understand how to mitigate misdiagnoses and improve patient care.
Disclosure: Bijal Shah-Manek: nothing to disclose
Marco DiBonaventura: nothing to disclose
Hannah Brown: nothing to disclose
Simone Gabriele: nothing to disclose
Joanna White: nothing to disclose
Abstract: P835
Type: Poster
Abstract Category: Clinical aspects of MS - 1 Diagnosis and differential diagnosis
Background: PPMS affects 10-15% of patients with MS and as a less frequently occurring form of MS can often be misdiagnosed.
Objective: To assess the rates of neurologist-reported misdiagnosis in both Europe and the United States (US) and establish factors which may lead to increased probability of a misdiagnosis.
Methods: The Ipsos Healthcare Global MS Therapy Monitor, a multi-year, multi-centre retrospective chart-review study of MS patients is run on a bi-annual basis in 5EU (UK/Germany/France/Italy/Spain) and US since 1997 to collect de-identified data on diagnosis, clinical status, and treatment patterns. HCPs are screened for practice duration (≥3yrs) and patient volume (≥15 MS patients/mo) and recruited from a large panel to be geographically representative within respective countries. HCPs collect de-identified anonymous data from the next 10 consecutive MS patients within the respective study windows. Charts of patients with PPMS abstracted in Q4 (September through December) 2016 were included.
Results: A total of N=278 (5EU) and N=99 (US) charts were included. PPMS patients were predominantly male (56.1% and 62.6% in 5EU and US, respectively) and had a mean age of approximately 50 years (48.7 and 51.3, respectively). 16.5% of patients in the 5EU and 37.4% of patients in the US were first diagnosed with another condition other than PPMS. In the 5EU, the most common conditions that were initially diagnosed instead were relapsing remitting MS (RRMS; 17.4%), bone disease (8.7%), back problems (8.7%), cervical myelopathy (6.5%), myelitis (6.5%), or sciatica (6.5%). In the US, 43.2% of the initial misdiagnoses were RRMS. Few patient characteristics were predictive of misdiagnosis; in the 5EU, patients who were initially misdiagnosed were more likely to have severe MS than those who were not misdiagnosed (37.0% vs. 29.4%, respectively, had severe MS).
Conclusions: The results suggest 20-40% of patients with PPMS are initially diagnosed with another condition (often RRMS but also other neuromuscular disorders). There was no clear association between the characteristics of the patient and their probability for a misdiagnosis. Further research is needed to understand how to mitigate misdiagnoses and improve patient care.
Disclosure: Bijal Shah-Manek: nothing to disclose
Marco DiBonaventura: nothing to disclose
Hannah Brown: nothing to disclose
Simone Gabriele: nothing to disclose
Joanna White: nothing to disclose