Treatment preferences in relation to fatigue of patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis: A discrete choice experiment

Abstract

Background Treatment decisions for multiple sclerosis (MS) are influenced by many factors such as disease symptoms, comorbidities, and tolerability. Objective To determine how much relapsing MS patients were willing to accept the worsening of certain aspects of their MS in return for improvements in symptoms or treatment convenience. Methods A web-based discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted in patients with relapsing MS. Multinomial logit models were used to estimate relative attribute importance (RAI) and to quantify attribute trade-offs. Results The DCE was completed by 817 participants from the US, the UK, Poland, and Russia. The most valued attributes of MS therapy to participants were effects on physical fatigue (RAI = 22.3%), cognitive fatigue (RAI = 22.0%), relapses over 2 years (RAI = 20.7%), and MS progression (RAI = 18.4%). Participants would accept six additional relapses in 2 years and a decrease of 7 years in time to disease progression to improve either cognitive or physical fatigue from “quite a bit of difficulty” to “no difficulty.” Conclusion Patients strongly valued improving cognitive and physical fatigue and were willing to accept additional relapses or a shorter time to disease progression to have less fatigue. The impact of fatigue on MS patients’ quality of life should be considered in treatment decisions.