MS Patient Decision AID
Helping patients and their clinicians choose the best treatment option
The MS Decision Aid has been created by clinicians, patients and researchers at the University of British Columbia.
Why a patient decision aid?
The decision aid helps patients and their clinicians choose between the numerous first line treatment options for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
This choice can be difficult because:
There are many treatment options, each with different features (chance of reducing the frequency and severity of relapses, chance of slowing disease progression, side-effects, injection vs oral medication etc.)
What matters most to one patient may differ to the next. It can be difficult for clinicians to understand what matters to each patient, and sometimes patients are not well informed of the evidence so worry about aspects that they probably should not
Time at the consultation is limited and sometimes it is not the best time to think through the treatment options
Most patients with RRMS wish to be actively involved in their care
How does the decision aid work?
The decision aid is developed to be used at home prior to a consultation about treatment decisions:
Starts by explaining MS and what first line disease modifying treatments are available
Asks questions about the patient, which helps personalize options, and provides information based on the responses (e.g. patients may not be suitable for certain medications based certain underlying conditions)
Enables patients to clarify what matters most to them using an interactive questionnaire
Describes the options in order of best match (based on their characteristics and preferences)
Has a knowledge quiz to help the patient and their clinician feel confident they know about their options and their features
Creates a 1 page summary that the patient can keep, and can be added to the patient's file at the clinic for the clinician to use to prepare for their next consultation with the patient
The decision aid does not replace the clinicians decision or reduce the clinicians time spent with the patient - rather it helps the clinician have a more informed discussion
