Current evidence and knowledge gaps on remote monitoring in people with multiple sclerosis - a systematic scoping...

The present review aims to 1) provide a comprehensive overview of remote patient monitoring (RPM) across the existing research literature involving people with MS (pwMS) and 2) provide updated information on the availability of these technologies.

A systematic literature search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Scopus. Studies were included if they evaluated adult pwMS, applied RPM over at least 1 week, and reported objective outcomes. Included studies were categorised as evaluating apps, wearables or combinations of the two.

A total of 77 studies involving 9463 pwMS were included. Participants had a mean age of 46 years, 69.7% were female, and most presented with mild to moderate disability (EDSS 2-3.5). Wearables were used in 37 studies, 33 employed apps and 4 combined both. Wearables were most commonly wrist-worn, primarily assessing step count and gait, while mobile apps focused on motor function, cognition and quality of life. Most wearables and apps remain restricted to research use, with only few being commercially available.

Application of RPM in MS is promising, offering broad possibilities for monitoring health status, but is limited by device heterogeneity and restricted availability. Future efforts should prioritise standardised, multi-domain RPM solutions that ensure data security and broad clinical applicability.