Patient Experiences of Multiple Sclerosis (PExMS)

A variety of management options (e.g. immunotherapies, lifestyle interventions, and rehabilitation) are available for people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Besides coping with the diagnosis, people with multiple sclerosis have to make complex decisions such as deciding about immunotherapies. In addition to factual information, reports of patient experiences (PEx) may support patients in decision-making. The added value of PEx in decision-making is not clear and controlled studies are rare. Therefore, systematic methods are necessary in order to develop and analyse PEx. As there are no evaluated PEx for multiple sclerosis in Germany, the investigators are currently creating a website presenting PEx structured according to topics and illustrated by video, audio and text files. The investigators aim to evaluate whether PEx may help people with multiple sclerosis in their immunotherapy decision-making processes. This project will follow the Medical Research Council framework for development and evaluation of complex interventions. After the development of a website with PEx, a randomised controlled pilot trial will be conducted in five neurological practices/clinics including 55 people with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and accompanied by a process evaluation. Participants will be randomly assigned either to i) an intervention group with a two weeks access to an evidence-based patient information resource and the PExMS-website as an adjunct or to ii) the control group with access to evidence information alone. A 6-members advisory panel involving representatives of people with multiple sclerosis, researchers, and neurologists, who accompany the whole project will mentor this pilot RCT. The ethical committee of the Hamburg Chamber of Physicians approved the study protocol.