In a recent survey, patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) displayed a wide range of risk tolerance (RT) to MS therapies. People with MS from the North American Research Committee on Multiple Sclerosis Registry’s online cohort and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society were invited to complete a questionnaire on tolerance to real-world risks associated with a hypothetical therapy. Multiple risk levels were presented, including skin rash, infection, kidney injury, thyroid injury, liver injury, and progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Researchers found:
- Both PML and kidney injury had the lowest RT; thyroid and infection risk had the highest tolerance.
- Men, younger individuals, and those with greater disability reported a higher tolerance to all risk scenarios.
- Participants currently taking an MS therapy reported higher tolerance vs those not taking any therapy.
Fox RJ, Cosenza C, Cripps L, et al. A survey of risk tolerance to multiple sclerosis therapies. [Published online ahead of print March 13, 2019]. Neurology. doi:10.1212/ WNL.0000000000007245.