Validation of self-reported neurological disability in multiple sclerosis

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Assessing disability in multiple sclerosis (MS) is crucial for patient management.
• Traditional methods rely on clinician-administered scales like the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).
• Patient self-assessment tools can enhance data collection efficiency and patient engagement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability of patient self-assessed disability scores compared to neurologist ratings in multiple sclerosis.
• To determine if a validated auto-questionnaire can predict EDSS scores accurately.

Main Methods:

• 129 unselected multiple sclerosis patients completed a 25-item disability auto-questionnaire.
• Neurologists, blinded to patient responses, assigned EDSS scores.
• Correlation and linear regression analyses were used to compare self-assessment scores with EDSS ratings.

Main Results:

• High correlation (r > 0.50) was found between patient self-assessments and neurologist ratings for five of eight functional system scores.
• A linear regression model predicted neurologist-assigned EDSS scores from patient responses in 73% of cases.
• Model performance was consistent across different patient demographics and disease courses.

Conclusions:

• Patients can reliably self-assess most aspects of multiple sclerosis disability.
• Validated auto-questionnaires offer a practical approach for disability assessment in large or community-based studies.
• Further collaborative efforts are recommended to develop and validate such patient-reported outcome measures.