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Objective: The aim of our study was to validate the Myasthenia Gravis TeleScore (MGTS), a scale for the evaluation of MG patients in telemedicine. Introduction: COVID-19 pandemic has boosted telemedicine in clinical practice. It could be crucial in the care of neurological patients with chronic disease. However, there is a lack of validated disease-specific tools to evaluate MG patients in telemedicine. Methods: The MGTS included ten items divided in four districts: ocular, generalized muscular strength, bulbar, and respiratory. Patients were assessed with two different scales: the MGTS and the INCB-MG chosen as a reference from which MGTS was partially derived. Visit in presence with INCB-MG and televisit with MGTS were performed consecutively. Televisit was conducted by another neurologist between two rooms. A blind method was adopted. The strength of correlation was determined by the correlation coefficient (r); analysis of covariance (ANOVA—Kruskal–Wallis test) was used to compare subgroups. Significance was set to p < 0.05. Results: One hundred thirty-one patients were included in the study, 71 females and 60 males. The Spearman correlation coefficient between the INCB-MG scale and the MGTS was 0.825 (p < 0.001), indicating a very strong correlation between them. Different items showed different correlations from low to high (0.32 to 0.80). As expected, correlation was lower between items with different evaluation modality (anamnestic vs clinical). Discussion: The MGTS demonstrated a good correlation with INCB-MG, reliability and construct validity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Multiple sclerosis ( MS) affects young adults of working age. Difficulties in work-related activities are usually ascribed to MS symptoms, while the impact of workplace features is underestimated. This article presents the Multiple Sclerosis Questionnaire for Job Difficulties ( MSQ-Job), designed to assess working difficulties due to MS symptoms and workplace features. Methods A sample of employed MS patients completed the MSQ-Job, the WHO-Disability Assessment Schedule ( WHODAS 2.0) and the 54-items MS Quality of Life Questionnaires ( MSQOL-54); the expanded disability status scale ( EDSS) was used to define MS severity. Factor structure was evaluated using principal component extraction and Oblimin rotation; internal consistency was assessed with Cronbach's alpha; construct and discriminant validity using t-test ( EDSS 0-2 vs >2; patients self-reporting need for support vs patients reporting no needs; full-time vs part-time employees); and Pearson's correlation with WHODAS 2.0 and MSQOL-54. Results The MSQ-Job is a 42-item questionnaire with six scales and an overall factor. Scores range on a 0-100 scale (higher scores indicate more and more severe difficulties); patients with EDSS>2 and self-reporting support needs had worse scores than those with EDSS 0-2 and without needs. Correlations with WHODAS 2.0 and MSQOL-54 were generally significant ( P < 0.0007) and below 0.70. Conclusions The MSQ-Job jointly measures the impact of respondents' symptoms and workplace features on work activities and enables to assess the effects of clinical and occupational interventions and better describe the impact of MS indirect costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]