Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a debilitating and incurable chronic disease. Patients might benefit from peer support provided by patients entitled to give advice on daily life management with MS. Studies have shown that peer support can enhance chronic patients' quality of life in Psychiatry and Oncology.
This pilot study aims at assessing the impact of peer support on therapeutic adherence and quality of life in patients with MS, but also to appraise the project feasibility and acceptability among the healthcare team, with large-scale implementation in mind.
This mixed methods pilot study consists in a monocentric open-label randomized controlled trial. It is located in Nantes, France, and aims to recruit 60 patients with relapsing-remitting MS undergoing drug therapy from the Nantes University Hospital Neurology Department. Patients will be randomized 1:1 to receive either usual care only or usual care combined with peer support (3 individual sessions at 1, 3 and 5 months with a peer support specialist).
Primary outcome is enhanced therapeutic adherence 6 months after baseline, secondary outcomes include therapeutic compliance, quality of life, anxiety and depression, social support. All dimensions will be assessed using validated health questionnaires at baseline and at 6 months.
Interventions acceptability and feasibility will be evaluated using qualitative methods: undirected interviews with patients from the intervention group and 2 focus-groups, one with the peer support specialists and the other with the healthcare team.
