The ABILHAND-23 Patient Reported Outcome Measure in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional...

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Clinical Trials
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Upper limb dysfunction (ULD) significantly impacts daily life for people with progressive multiple sclerosis (pwPMS).
• The 9-hole peg test (9HPT) is a standard clinical measure for ULD, but may not fully represent patient-reported functional limitations.
• The ABILHAND-23 is a validated patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) assessing bimanual functional ability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the association between the ABILHAND-23 and the 9HPT in pwPMS.
• To determine if the 9HPT and other variables can predict ABILHAND-23 scores.
• Utilize baseline data from the MS-STAT2 trial for analysis.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional analysis of baseline data from the UCLH cohort of the MS-STAT2 trial.
• Multiple linear regression was employed to predict ABILHAND-23 logit scores using 9HPT performance.
• 225 participants were included in the analysis.

Main Results:

• A moderate correlation (rho = 0.47) was observed between ABILHAND-23 scores and 9HPT performance.
• Better 9HPT performance was a modest predictor of ABILHAND-23 logit scores (β = -0.05, p < 0.001).
• The 9HPT explained only a portion of the variance in daily functional ability as measured by ABILHAND-23.

Conclusions:

• The 9HPT provides a limited reflection of the individual's experience with upper limb disability in pwPMS.
• Patient-reported outcome measures like ABILHAND-23 are crucial for capturing the full spectrum of disability in clinical trials.
• Integrating PROMs alongside clinical measures offers a more comprehensive assessment of treatment efficacy in progressive multiple sclerosis.