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Numeracy of multiple sclerosis patients: A comparison of patients from the PERCEPT study to a German probabilistic
Wolfgang Gaissmaier1, Helge Giese2, Mirta Galesic3
1Department of Psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany; Center for Adaptive Behavior and Cognition, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Berlin, Germany.
Objective:
A shared decision-making approach is suggested for multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. To properly evaluate benefits and risks of different treatment options accordingly, MS patients require sufficient numeracy - the ability to understand quantitative information. It is unknown whether MS affects numeracy. Therefore, we investigated whether patients' numeracy was impaired compared to a probabilistic national sample.
Methods:
As part of the larger prospective, observational, multicenter study PERCEPT, we assessed numeracy for a clinical study sample of German MS patients (N=725) with a standard test and compared them to a German probabilistic sample (N=1001), controlling for age, sex, and education. Within patients, we assessed whether disease variables (disease duration, disability, annual relapse rate, cognitive impairment) predicted numeracy beyond these demographics.
Results:
MS patients showed a comparable level of numeracy as the probabilistic national sample (68.9% vs. 68.5% correct answers, P=0.831). In both samples, numeracy was higher for men and the highly educated. Disease variables did not predict numeracy beyond demographics within patients, and predictability was generally low.
Conclusion:
This sample of MS patients understood quantitative information on the same level as the general population.
Practice Implications:
There is no reason to withhold quantitative information from MS patients.
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