The patient’s view

Little is known about what it means to age with MS. A recent survey involving 52 patients with MS aged between 45 and 70 years (mean 51.7 years) examined their perceptions of both the disease and its treatments from their initial diagnosis to the time of the survey. Approximately 90 percent reported being on MS therapy, with one in three having changed treatments 3 to 4 times.

From a clinical patient management perspective, the most important observation was that perceptions and attitudes to treatment risks evolved as those surveyed got older. Over time, the safety of a therapy became more important:

• At diagnosis, 71% of the patients were most concerned about disease progression and 29% about the safety of the treatment.
• At the time of the survey, 46% of the patients considered safety the most important criterion, with life experiences and age being the main drivers for the change in perception.

Return to 'the MS population is ageing'