Development and validation of the Myasthenia Gravis TeleScore (MGTS)

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Telemedicine
• Clinical Assessment Tools

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated telemedicine adoption in healthcare.
• Telemedicine is vital for managing chronic neurological conditions.
• Validated, disease-specific tools are needed for remote myasthenia gravis patient evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To validate the Myasthenia Gravis TeleScore (MGTS) for assessing myasthenia gravis patients remotely.
• To establish the reliability and construct validity of the MGTS in a telemedicine setting.

Main Methods:

• The MGTS comprises ten items across ocular, muscular strength, bulbar, and respiratory domains.
• Patients were evaluated using both the MGTS via televisit and the INCB-MG scale during an in-person visit.
• Spearman correlation coefficient was used to determine the strength of correlation between the two scales.

Main Results:

• A total of 131 patients (71 female, 60 male) were included in the study.
• A very strong correlation (r=0.825, p<0.001) was observed between the MGTS and the INCB-MG scale.
• Individual item correlations varied from low to high (0.32-0.80), with lower correlations noted between items using different evaluation modalities.

Conclusions:

• The Myasthenia Gravis TeleScore (MGTS) demonstrates strong correlation, reliability, and construct validity.
• MGTS is a validated tool suitable for telemedicine-based evaluation of myasthenia gravis patients.