May 28, 2009
There are many drugs being evaluated in MS trials these days that seem to provide much better efficacy than the currently available drugs. However, their potent effects usually have a downside which is a higher risk of adverse health effects, even an increased risk of death. I've been wondering how people with MS will make choices if/when these drugs can be prescribed, and it turns out a research team has been exploring that very topic. They developed a questionnaire that was filled out by 651 people with MS to ask about treatment preferences and trade-offs.
Delaying progression was the most important priority for people with MS. In addition, respondents were willing on average to accept around a 1 in 250 annual risk of death from various causes in exchange for a decreased relapse rate (from 4 to 1) and longer time to progression (from 3 to 5 years). The questions asked were only hypothetical, so real-life choices may be different, but still it's interesting to see how people view these trade-offs. Hopefully the risk/benefit ratio for some of these new drugs will turn out to be much more favorable than what people say they'd be willing to accept.