Contributions
Abstract: EP1398
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: Clinical aspects of MS - Clinical assessment tools
Introduction: An engineered glove (Hand Test System, HTS) has been previously used to quantitatively measure impairment in finger movements in a cohort of patients with MS (pwMS), showing good cross-sectional correlations of upper limb impairment with clinical measures (EDSS and SDMT).
Objectives: To evaluate whether the HTS is able to detect a deterioration in upper limb function over a follow up period of 7 years in a group of patients with stable EDSS.
Methods: We re-evaluated the finger motor function in 17 pwMS with stable EDSS and 17 age-matched healthy controls (HC) after a mean follow up of 6.7 years (range 5.9-8.3 years). All the subjects performed 60-sec repetitive fingers-to-thumb opposition sequences with their dominant hand at maximal velocity and bimanually paced by a metronome. The HTS glove was used to calculate motor performance parameters such as the maximum movement rate (RATE),the inter-hand interval (IHI), and the number of correct sequences for each task. All the patients had a baseline clinical assessment by EDSS, Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW), 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT) and PASAT. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare HTS parameters changes between HC and pwMS and the Spearman correlation coefficient to assess correlations of baseline disease status with HTS parameters changes.
Results: The EDSS was stable over the follow up for all the included patients (mean age 43 years, disease duration 12 years, EDSS 2.3). As compared to HC pwMS had a decrease over follow up in the number of correct sequences when performing the task at maximal velocity (mean change: -1.5 in pwMS vs +4.0 in HC, p=0.038) and bimanually paced by a metronome (mean change: -3.5 in pwMS vs +4.1 in HC, p=0.002). There was no significantly different change between pwMS and HC in the RATE and in the IHI. In pwMS the change in the number of correct sequences obtained at maximal velocity significantly correlated with baseline EDSS (r=-0.60, p=0.01), while the change in the number of correct sequences obtained bimanually paced by a metronome correlated with baseline PASAT (r=0.47, p=0.05).
Conclusions: The sensor-engineered glove is a simple and quantitative device to assess upper limb function and it was able to detect a decline in upper limb function in patients with stable EDSS over a 7 years follow up period; this tool can represent a promising method to enrich the disability progression assessment in pwMS.
Disclosure: This study received an award from Merck Serono
Conflicts of Interest:
CL: received honoraria for travel expenses for attending meetings from Roche.
AS: received teaching honoraria from Novartis
LB, LN, FB: have nothing to disclose.
AL: received honoraria for speaking by Biogen, Novartis, and Teva, consulting fees by Merck-Serono, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Novartis, and funding for travel from Teva, Merck-Serono, Biogen, and Novartis
MP: has received research support from Novartis and personal fees from Teva and Mecrk Serono.
GLM: has received honoraria for lecturing, travel expenses for attending meetings, and financial support for research from Bayer Schering, Biogen Idec, Sanofi - Aventis, Merck Serono Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Genzyme and Teva.
AU: has received consulting honoraria and/or speaker fees from Genentech, Roche, Biogen, Genzyme, Teva, Novartis, and Merck-Serono.
MPS: received consulting fees from TEVA, Biogen, Merck Serono, Genzyme, Roche, GeNeuro, Novartis, Medday.
Abstract: EP1398
Type: Poster Sessions
Abstract Category: Clinical aspects of MS - Clinical assessment tools
Introduction: An engineered glove (Hand Test System, HTS) has been previously used to quantitatively measure impairment in finger movements in a cohort of patients with MS (pwMS), showing good cross-sectional correlations of upper limb impairment with clinical measures (EDSS and SDMT).
Objectives: To evaluate whether the HTS is able to detect a deterioration in upper limb function over a follow up period of 7 years in a group of patients with stable EDSS.
Methods: We re-evaluated the finger motor function in 17 pwMS with stable EDSS and 17 age-matched healthy controls (HC) after a mean follow up of 6.7 years (range 5.9-8.3 years). All the subjects performed 60-sec repetitive fingers-to-thumb opposition sequences with their dominant hand at maximal velocity and bimanually paced by a metronome. The HTS glove was used to calculate motor performance parameters such as the maximum movement rate (RATE),the inter-hand interval (IHI), and the number of correct sequences for each task. All the patients had a baseline clinical assessment by EDSS, Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW), 9-Hole Peg Test (9HPT) and PASAT. Mann Whitney U test was used to compare HTS parameters changes between HC and pwMS and the Spearman correlation coefficient to assess correlations of baseline disease status with HTS parameters changes.
Results: The EDSS was stable over the follow up for all the included patients (mean age 43 years, disease duration 12 years, EDSS 2.3). As compared to HC pwMS had a decrease over follow up in the number of correct sequences when performing the task at maximal velocity (mean change: -1.5 in pwMS vs +4.0 in HC, p=0.038) and bimanually paced by a metronome (mean change: -3.5 in pwMS vs +4.1 in HC, p=0.002). There was no significantly different change between pwMS and HC in the RATE and in the IHI. In pwMS the change in the number of correct sequences obtained at maximal velocity significantly correlated with baseline EDSS (r=-0.60, p=0.01), while the change in the number of correct sequences obtained bimanually paced by a metronome correlated with baseline PASAT (r=0.47, p=0.05).
Conclusions: The sensor-engineered glove is a simple and quantitative device to assess upper limb function and it was able to detect a decline in upper limb function in patients with stable EDSS over a 7 years follow up period; this tool can represent a promising method to enrich the disability progression assessment in pwMS.
Disclosure: This study received an award from Merck Serono
Conflicts of Interest:
CL: received honoraria for travel expenses for attending meetings from Roche.
AS: received teaching honoraria from Novartis
LB, LN, FB: have nothing to disclose.
AL: received honoraria for speaking by Biogen, Novartis, and Teva, consulting fees by Merck-Serono, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Novartis, and funding for travel from Teva, Merck-Serono, Biogen, and Novartis
MP: has received research support from Novartis and personal fees from Teva and Mecrk Serono.
GLM: has received honoraria for lecturing, travel expenses for attending meetings, and financial support for research from Bayer Schering, Biogen Idec, Sanofi - Aventis, Merck Serono Pharmaceuticals, Novartis, Genzyme and Teva.
AU: has received consulting honoraria and/or speaker fees from Genentech, Roche, Biogen, Genzyme, Teva, Novartis, and Merck-Serono.
MPS: received consulting fees from TEVA, Biogen, Merck Serono, Genzyme, Roche, GeNeuro, Novartis, Medday.