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Background: Adherence is a prerequisite for the efficacy of any drug, and previous studies have shown that non-adherence is associated with disease activity and increased health care cost in multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of this study was to investigate rates and reasons for discontinuation of dimethyl fumarate (DMF) among people with MS on a national level and differences between clinics in Denmark., Methods: This was a nationwide, registry and population study of patients treated with DMF. We calculated standard residuals (SR) demonstrate differences between clinics. For survival analysis regarding discontinuation rates and discontinuation due to specific AEs we used log-rank test Cox-proportional hazards and plotted Kaplan-Meier graphics., Results: We included 2,448 people with MS, treated with DMF from 2013 to 2020. Average treatment duration was 26 months (5,382 treatment years). 49.2 % of patients who initiated treatment with DMF (n = 1205) were continuously treated. Reasons for discontinuation were adverse events (54.5 %, n = 656), active disease (26.1 %, n = 315), pregnancy (9.4 %, n = 113) or other reasons (13.2 %, n = 159). We compared SR to the mean regarding reasons for discontinuation and found significant differences between sites regarding gastrointestinal adverse events, flushing and lymphopenia. Discontinuation due to all adverse events, flushing and lymphopenia were more frequent in female than male patients., Conclusion: In this population-based study, we found major differences between the MS clinics in rates and reason for discontinuation of DMF. Our results suggest that management strategies during DMF treatment can reduce discontinuation rates., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest M Stilund has served on scientific advisory boards for Sanofi, received support for congress participation or received speaker honoraria from Biogen, Teva, Merck, Roche and Sanofi. M. Stilund has eceived grants for his research from Novartis, and is currently engaged in sponsor-initiated research projects by Bayer, Jansen, Shionogi and Sanofi. J Schäfer has served on a scientific advisory board with Sanofi, received speaker honoraria from Novartis and travel compensation for congress participation from Merck, Roche and Sanofi. R Ratzer has served on scientific advisory boards, received speaker honoraria and received support for congress participation from Merck, Sanofi, Roche, Medtronic and Ipsen. Á Theódórsdóttir has served on scientific advisory boards for Roche and Sanofi and steering committee for Novartis, received research grand from Novartis and Sanofi, and has received support for congress participation from Roche, Biogen, Novartis, Merck and Sanofi. ÁT is currently engaged in sponsor-initiated research projects by Novartis and Roche. F Sellebjerg has served on scientific advisory boards for, served as consultant for, received support for congress participation or received speaker honoraria from Alexion, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi Genzyme. His-laboratory has received research support from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi Genzyme. T Sejbaek received has served on scientific advisory boards for, served as consultant for, received support for congress participation or received speaker honoraria from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi. T. Sejbaeks received unrestricted research grants to his research institution from Biogen, Merck and Roche, and is currently engaged in sponsor-initiated research projects by Eisai, Lundbeck, Roche and Sanofi. All other authors have no conflicts of interests., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Importance: Ocrelizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody targeted against CD20+ B cells, reduces the frequency of relapses by 46% and disability worsening by 40% compared with interferon beta 1a in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (MS). Rituximab, a chimeric monoclonal anti-CD20 agent, is often prescribed as an off-label alternative to ocrelizumab., Objective: To evaluate whether the effectiveness of rituximab is noninferior to ocrelizumab in relapsing-remitting MS., Design, Setting, and Participants: This was an observational cohort study conducted between January 2015 and March 2021. Patients were included in the treatment group for the duration of study therapy and were recruited from the MSBase registry and Danish MS Registry (DMSR). Included patients had a history of relapsing-remitting MS treated with ocrelizumab or rituximab, a minimum 6 months of follow-up, and sufficient data to calculate the propensity score. Patients with comparable baseline characteristics were 1:6 matched with propensity score on age, sex, MS duration, disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale), prior relapse rate, prior therapy, disease activity (relapses, disability accumulation, or both), magnetic resonance imaging lesion burden (missing values imputed), and country., Exposure: Treatment with ocrelizumab or rituximab after 2015., Main Outcomes and Measures: Noninferiority comparison of annualized rate of relapses (ARRs), with a prespecified noninferiority margin of 1.63 rate ratio. Secondary end points were relapse and 6-month confirmed disability accumulation in pairwise-censored groups., Results: Of the 6027 patients with MS who were treated with ocrelizumab or rituximab, a total of 1613 (mean [SD] age; 42.0 [10.8] years; 1089 female [68%]) fulfilled the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis (898 MSBase, 715 DMSR). A total of 710 patients treated with ocrelizumab (414 MSBase, 296 DMSR) were matched with 186 patients treated with rituximab (110 MSBase, 76 DMSR). Over a pairwise censored mean (SD) follow-up of 1.4 (0.7) years, the ARR ratio was higher in patients treated with rituximab than in those treated with ocrelizumab (rate ratio, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.4-2.4; ARR, 0.20 vs 0.09; P < .001). The cumulative hazard of relapses was higher among patients treated with rituximab than those treated with ocrelizumab (hazard ratio, 2.1; 95% CI, 1.5-3.0). No difference in the risk of disability accumulation was observed between groups. Results were confirmed in sensitivity analyses., Conclusion: In this noninferiority comparative effectiveness observational cohort study, results did not show noninferiority of treatment with rituximab compared with ocrelizumab. As administered in everyday practice, rituximab was associated with a higher risk of relapses than ocrelizumab. The efficacy of rituximab and ocrelizumab administered at uniform doses and intervals is being further evaluated in randomized noninferiority clinical trials.

Background: Natalizumab is a widely used high-efficacy treatment in multiple sclerosis (MS). Real-world evidence regarding long-term effectiveness and safety is warranted. We performed a nationwide study evaluating prescription patterns, effectiveness, and adverse events., Methods: A nationwide cohort study using the Danish MS Registry. Patients initiating natalizumab between June 2006 and April 2020 were included. Patient characteristics, annualized relapse rates (ARRs), confirmed Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score worsening, MRI activity (new/enlarging T2- or gadolinium-enhancing lesions), and reported adverse events were evaluated. Further, prescription patterns and outcomes across different time periods ("epochs") were analysed., Results: In total, 2424 patients were enrolled, with a median follow-up time of 2.7 years (interquartile range (IQR) 1.2-5.1). In recent epochs, patients were younger, had lower EDSS scores, had fewer pre-treatment relapses and were more often treatment naïve. At 13 years of follow-up, 36% had a confirmed EDSS worsening. On-treatment ARR was 0.30, corresponding to a 72% reduction from pre-initiation. MRI activity was rare, 6.8% had activity within 2-14 months from treatment start, 3.4% within 14-26 months, and 2.7% within 26-38 months. Approximately 14% of patients reported adverse events, with cephalalgia constituting the majority. During the study, 62.3% discontinued treatment. Of these, the main cause (41%) was due to JCV antibodies, while discontinuations due to disease activity (9%) or adverse events (9%) were less frequent., Conclusion: Natalizumab is increasingly used earlier in the disease course. Most patients treated with natalizumab are clinically stable with few adverse events. JCV antibodies constitute the main cause for discontinuation., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest MD Buron has received speaker honoraria from Novartis. F Sellebjerg has served on scientific advisory boards for, served as consultant for, received support for congress participation or received speaker honoraria from Alexion, Biogen, Bristol Myers Squibb, H. Lundbeck A/S, Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi Genzyme. His laboratory has received research support from , Merck, Novartis, Roche and Sanofi Genzyme. M Magyari has served in scientific advisory board for Sanofi, Novartis, Merck, and has received honoraria for lecturing from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Genzyme, Bristol Myers Squibb. J Romme Christensen has received speaker honoraria from Biogen. PV. Rasmussen has received speaker honoraria from TEVA, Biogen, Roche and Novartis, support for congress participation from Merck, Roche, Sanofi and TEVA, fees for serving on advisory boards from Merck, Roche, Novartis, Biogen, and Sanofi. PS. Sorensen has received personal compensation for serving on advisory boards for Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Teva; on steering committees or independent data monitoring boards in trials sponsored by Merck, and Novartis; and has received speaker honoraria from Biogen, Merck, Teva, BMS/Celgene, and Novartis. H Joensen, M Kant, D Bech and L Pontieri report no disclosures, (Copyright © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF, Tecfidera®) is a first-line disease-modifying therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis. Lymphopenia is a frequent reason for discontinuation in fumarate-treated patients. Management strategies to minimize risk of lymphopenia are warranted., Objective: The aims of this study were to investigate the correlation of body mass index (BMI), baseline absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), age and sex with risk of DMF-induced lymphopenia in MS patients., Methods: The study was a retrospective cohort study of 452 MS patients who had been prescribed DMF at six clinics in two Danish regions between May 2014 and September 2017. Data on lymphocyte counts, BMI, age, sex, and reason for discontinuation of DMF were collected through the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry, with follow- up to two years after treatment start., Results: 28.5% of patients had lymphopenia grade II or higher at some time in the first two years of DMF treatment. Increased risk of lymphopenia was observed in patients with baseline ALC of 1.00-1.49×10 9 cells/L (odds ratio, OR 5.48, p<0.0001) and 1.50-1.99×10 9 cells/L (OR 2.08, p = 0.0009). Reduced risk of lymphopenia was observed in patients with ALC of 2.00-2.49×10 9 cells/L (OR 0.51, p< 0.01) and ≥ 2.50×10 9 cells/L (0.12, p<0.0001). Patients aged ≥ 56 years had an increased risk of lymphopenia (OR 3.58, p<0.001), and patients with BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 had a decreased risk of lymphopenia (OR 0.53, p value = 0.03)., Conclusion: Low baseline ALC and older age were risk factors for DMF-induced lymphopenia, while BMI ≥ 30 kg/m 2 and high baseline ALC were protective factors for developing lymphopenia in MS patients treated with DMF., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Potential supplemental disease-modifying and neuroprotective treatment strategies are warranted in multiple sclerosis (MS). Exercise is a promising non-pharmacological approach, and an uninvestigated 'window of opportunity' exists early in the disease course., Objective: To investigate the effect of early exercise on relapse rate, global brain atrophy and secondary magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) outcomes., Methods: This randomized controlled trial ( n  = 84, disease duration <2 years) included 48 weeks of supervised aerobic exercise or control condition. Population-based control data (Danish MS Registry) was included ( n  = 850, disease duration <2 years). Relapse rates were obtained from medical records, and patients underwent structural and diffusion-kurtosis MRI at baseline, 24 and 48 weeks., Results: No between-group differences were observed for primary outcomes, relapse rate (incidence-rate-ratio exercise relative to control: (0.49 (0.15; 1.66), p  = 0.25) and global brain atrophy rate (-0.04 (-0.48; 0.40)%, p  = 0.87), or secondary measures of lesion load. Aerobic fitness increased in favour of the exercise group. Microstructural integrity was higher in four of eight a priori defined motor-related tracts and nuclei in the exercise group compared with the control (thalamus, corticospinal tract, globus pallidus, cingulate gyrus) at 48 weeks., Conclusion: Early supervised aerobic exercise did not reduce relapse rate or global brain atrophy, but does positively affect the microstructural integrity of important motor-related tracts and nuclei.

Background: Teriflunomide 14 mg (Aubagio®) is a once-daily, oral drug approved for the treatment of relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). While the efficacy and safety of teriflunomide have been thoroughly characterised across an extensive clinical program, we were interested in studying performance of the drug with respect to quality-of-life (QoL) outcomes in persons with MS in a real-world setting., Methods: Teri-LIFE was a prospective, open label, non-interventional, observational, multi-centre study that enrolled 200 teriflunomide-treated patients from three Nordic countries. The primary outcome measure changes in patient-reported QoL over 24 months as measured by the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Secondary endpoints included clinical efficacy, fatigue, safety, treatment satisfaction (Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication version 1.4 (TSQM-1.4)), treatment adherence, and health economic outcomes. Most assessments were made at baseline and then at 6-monthly intervals., Results: Overall, changes in SF-36 scores from baseline to last visit indicated a stable QoL during treatment with teriflunomide for up to 24 months. Relapse activity decreased during the study compared to the pre-baseline period (p<0.001), patient-reported disability increased marginally, and no substantial change was seen in fatigue scores. The mean scores for TSQM domains increased nominally though not significantly from Month 6 to Month 24. The convenience and side effects TSQM domains recorded the highest median scores, indicating the acceptability of oral teriflunomide in this cohort. This was reflected in a generally high treatment adherence and decreased healthcare utilization during the study period. Some differences were seen between treatment-naïve and previously treated patients, likely reflecting different patient demographics and disease status at study entry, along with different treatment expectations., Conclusion: Teri-LIFE offers a reliable snapshot of QoL, efficacy, safety, and health economic outcomes in persons with relapsing MS treated with teriflunomide in routine clinical practice in Nordic countries The results were consistent with previous clinical trials and real-world studies., (Copyright © 2022. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background and Purpose: Real-world evidence regarding the effectiveness and safety of ocrelizumab for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) is limited. The aim was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of ocrelizumab treatment for MS in a real-world setting., Methods: A nationwide population-based cohort study was conducted where clinical and magnetic resonance imaging data of MS patients enrolled prospectively in the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry who initiated ocrelizumab treatment between January 2018 and November 2020 were analyzed., Results: A total of 1104 patients (85.7% relapsing-remitting MS [RRMS], 8.8% secondary progressive MS [SPMS], 5.5% primary progressive MS [PPMS]) were included, with a median follow-up period of 1.3 years. At baseline, the mean age was 41.4 years in the RRMS group, 44.5 years in the PPMS group and 50.3 years in the SPMS group. Median Expanded Disability Status Scale score was 2.5, 3.5 and 5.5, respectively. Most RRMS and SPMS patients had received previous disease-modifying therapies (87.5% and 91.8%, respectively), whereas PPMS patients were mostly treatment naïve (78.7%). After ocrelizumab initiation, 9.3% of the patients experienced a relapse and 8.7% a 24 weeks confirmed disability worsening. Conversely, 16.7% showed a 24 weeks confirmed disability improvement. After ~1 year of treatment, most patients (94.5%) were free of magnetic resonance imaging activity. Ocrelizumab was generally well tolerated, as side effects were only reported for 10% of patients, mostly consisting of infusion-related reactions and infections., Conclusions: It is shown that most MS patients treated with ocrelizumab are clinically stabilized and with an adverse event profile consistent with the experience from the pivotal clinical trials., (© 2021 European Academy of Neurology.)

Objective: To investigate clinical outcomes in a real-world setting in the complete population-based cohort of alemtuzumab-treated MS patients in Denmark., Methods: Data were retrieved from The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry between 2009 and 2019. Demographic and disease-specific patient parameters related to treatment history, efficacy, and safety outcomes were assessed at baseline and during follow-up visits., Results: A total of 209 patients (78% female) started treatment with alemtuzumab during the study period with 3.1 ± 1.4 years follow-up. After 2 years, 75% of patients were relapse-free compared to 48% the year before alemtuzumab ( p  < 0.001). The annual number of relapses was reduced by 69% in year 4 compared with the year prior alemtuzumab. More active disease before alemtuzumab increased the annual hazard rate for relapse (HR: 2.88, p  < 0.001). The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score remained stable or improved in 81% of patients after 2 years. The need for an additional treatment course was associated with higher number of relapses in the year before alemtuzumab (odds ratio (OR) = 1.95, p  = 0.001)., Conclusion: In a country with primarily escalation strategy, relapse rate reduction was maintained for 5 years, and EDSS stabilized/improved in majority of patients. Higher relapse rate 1 year before alemtuzumab increased the odds for additional courses. Novel serious AEs were not observed.

Background: The number of patients with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) who convert to secondary progressive (SP) MS is uncertain, and with emerging treatment options for SPMS, it is important to identify RRMS patients in transition to the SP phase. The objective of the present study was to characterize clinical parameters and use of disease modifying therapies in patients diagnosed with SPMS and RRMS patients already entered the SP phase by use of the Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry (DMSR)., Methods: We used a cross-sectional design, including all living patients with MS as of June 30, 2020 from DMSR. First, we applied the MSBase definition of SPMS on all RRMS patients. Second, we applied the slightly modified inclusion criteria from the EXPAND clinical trial on patients with clinically confirmed SPMS and patients with RRMS fulfilling the MSBase definition of SPMS to identify SPMS patients recently progressed who may benefit from treatment with disease modifying therapy. We compared clinical characteristics and disease-modifying therapy use in the different patient groups., Results: Among patients with clinically confirmed SPMS, application of a slightly modified EXPAND trial inclusion criteria for SPMS (m-EXPAND) captured patients who had converted to SPMS more recently and who had relapsed and initiated high-efficacy treatment more frequently. Moreover, our RRMS patients fulfilling the "SPMS"-criteria according to MSBase and recently progression according to m-EXPAND had similar characteristics and remarkably resembled the SPMS population in the EXPAND trial., Conclusion: Our results indicate that data-driven diagnostic definitions might help identify RRMS patients at risk for SPMS and we highlight the challenges and reluctance in diagnosing SPMS in clinical practice., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Objective: Teriflunomide is a once-daily, oral disease-modifying therapy (DMT) for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS). We studied clinical outcomes in a real-world setting involving a population-based large cohort of unselected patients enrolled in The Danish Multiple Sclerosis Registry (DMSR) who started teriflunomide treatment between 2013-2019., Methods: This was a complete nationwide population-based cohort study with prospectively enrolled unselected cases. Demographic and disease-specific patient parameters related to treatment history, efficacy outcomes, and discontinuation and switching rates among other clinical variables were assessed at baseline and during follow-up visits., Results: A total of 3239 patients (65.4% female) started treatment with teriflunomide during the study period, 56% of whom were treatment-naïve. Compared to previously treated patients, treatment-naïve patients were older on average at disease onset, had a shorter disease duration, a lower Expanded Disability Status Scale score at teriflunomide treatment start and more frequently experienced a relapse in the 12 months prior to teriflunomide initiation. In the 3001 patients initiating teriflunomide treatment at least 12 months before the cut-off date, 72.7% were still on treatment one year after treatment start. Discontinuations in the first year were due mainly to adverse events (15.6%). Over the full follow-up period, 47.5% of patients discontinued teriflunomide treatment. Sixty-three percent of the patients treated with teriflunomide for 5 years were relapse-free, while significantly more treatment-naïve versus previously treated patients experienced a relapse during the follow-up (p<0.0001). Furthermore, 85% of the patients with available data were free of disability worsening at the end of follow-up., Conclusions: Solid efficacy and treatment persistence data consistent with other real-world studies were obtained over the treatment period. Treatment outcomes in this real-world scenario of the population-based cohort support previous findings that teriflunomide is an effective and generally well-tolerated DMT for relapsing MS patients with mild to moderate disease activity., Competing Interests: This study was funded by Sanofi. VP: has received support for scientific meetings from Merck and Sanofi Genzyme and honoraria for lecturing from Alexion. MDB: None. VS: None. PVR: has served on scientific advisory board for Biogen, Sanofi, Roche, Novartis, Merck, and Alexion, has received honoraria for lecturing from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Roche, has received support for congress participation from Biogen, Genzyme, Roche, Merck, Novartis. ZI: has served on scientific advisory boards, received support for congress participation, received speaker honoraria, or received research support for his laboratory from Biogen, Merck, Roche, Sanofi Genzyme. MK: None. CH: has served on scientific advisory board for Biogen, Sanofi, Roche, Novartis, has received honoraria for lecturing from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, Genzyme, has received support for congress participation from Biogen and Roche. ZM: None. HR: None. TS: has served on scientific advisory boards, received support for congress participation, received speaker honoraria and received research support from Biogen and Novartis, and received support for congress participation by Roche. AW: has served on scientific advisory board for Merck, Biogen and Roche, has received honoraria for lecturing and publications from Sanofi Genzyme, Merck, Roche and has received support for congress participation from Biogen, Genzyme, Teva, Merck and Roche. JvW and SSG are employees of Sanofi. SB: has received support for congress participation from Biogen and Roche. FS: has served on scientific advisory boards, been on the steering committees of clinical trials, served as a consultant, received support for congress participation, received speaker honoraria, or received research support for his laboratory from Biogen, EMD Serono, Merck, Novartis, Roche, Sanofi Genzyme and Teva. MM: has served on scientific advisory board for Biogen, Sanofi, Roche, Novartis, Merck, Abbvie, Alexion has received honoraria for lecturing from Biogen, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi, Genzyme, has received research support and support for congress participation from Biogen, Genzyme, Roche, Merck, Novartis. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. With reference to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials, we confirm that this does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.

Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate differences in socio-economic characteristics between CAM users and CAM non-users among people with MS in Denmark as well as differences in characteristics related to the use of CAM among CAM users and the use of conventional treatments among CAM non-users., Methods: An internet-based questionnaire was used to collect data from 3361 patient members of the Danish MS society. A letter with a personal code was sent to all respondents, asking them to fill out the questionnaire online. Reminders to non-respondents were sent twice and the final response rate was 55.5%. Statistical associations were presented as odds ratios and with respective 95% confidence intervals., Results: People with MS in Denmark use a wide range of CAM treatments for a variety of reasons. CAM users were more likely to be of female gender, 18-40 years of age, educated at bachelor level or above, and have a high income compared to CAM non-users (p < 0.05). CAM users more often addressed non-specific/preventive treatment purposes through their use of CAM treatments, they communicated less often with a medical doctor about the CAM treatments used, and they experienced less side effects as well as less positive effects from the CAM treatments used when compared with the use of conventional treatments among CAM non-users (p < 0.05)., Conclusions: People with MS in Denmark reported use of a large range of CAM treatments. CAM users differed from CAN non-users in relation to socio-economic factors as well as treatment characteristics.

Karen Schreiber,1 Matthias Kant,2 Claudia Pfleger,3 Henrik Boye Jensen,4 Ole Oesterberg,5 Anne Rieper Hald,5 Frederik K Nielsen,5 Sune Rubak6 1Department of Neurology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark; 2Department of Neurology, Hospital of Southern Jutland, Soenderborg, Denmark; 3Department of Neurology, Aalborg University Hospital, Denmark; 4Department of Neurology, Kolding Hospital, Kolding, Denmark; 5Novartis Pharmaceutical, Copenhagen, Denmark; 6Department of Child and Adolescent Health, Aarhus University Hospital Skejby, Aarhus Denmark Purpose: Treatment adherence is a prerequisite for treatment success and therefore an important consideration to assure that therapeutic goals are achieved both from a patient point of view and for optimal health care resource utilization. Published data on treatment adherence with fingolimod (Gilenya®) are limited. Therefore, this study investigated treatment adherence in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) treated with fingolimod in Denmark. Patients and methods: This was a 24-month, multicenter, open-label study, investigating treatment adherence, satisfaction, motivation, and health-related quality of life (QoL) in RRMS patients treated with fingolimod. In addition, the effect of a motivational interview support program on these measures was evaluated. Treatment adherence was assessed by pill count. Treatment satisfaction, motivation, and QoL were assessed by patient-reported outcomes (PROs). Results: A total of 195 patients were enrolled in the study. A very high treatment adherence was observed during the entire study with no statistically significant difference between study visits before (99%) and after (97%) the motivational interview. In accordance, a high level of treatment satisfaction was found in the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication 9, which was scored high throughout the study with the highest scores seen for the convenience domain (ranging from 94.51 to 95.78). Furthermore, additional PROs demonstrated a high health-related QoL, a self-determined form of motivation for taking medication, and a patient perception of an autonomy supportive approach provided by the health care provider, at all study visits. Conclusion: High levels of treatment adherence, satisfaction, motivation, and QoL were observed in Danish RRMS patients treated with fingolimod. As these positive measures were observed at all study visits and throughout the study, no effect of the motivational interview support program was found. Keywords: Gilenya®, multiple sclerosis, treatment adherence, motivational interview, quality of life, Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication

Abstract: Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to describe and compare characteristics of subgroups of CAM users among people with MS in Denmark. Materials and methods: An Internet-based questionnaire was used for data collection among 3361 patient members of the Danish MS society. The final response rate was 55.5%. The respondents were asked about their use of various treatments within the past year and were subsequently divided into subgroups of: (1) those who had combined CAM treatments and conventional pharmacological treatments (74.2%), (2) those who had combined CAM treatments and conventional non-pharmacological treatments (16.0%) and (3) those who had used CAM treatments exclusively (9.8%). Statistical associations were presented as odds ratios and their respective 95% confidence intervals. Results: When comparing with the other subgroups, those who had used CAM and conventional pharmacological treatments in combination were characterized by more often having other conditions than MS, more often using CAM for specific purposes and more often using herbal medicine. Exclusive CAM users were characterized by more often foregoing disease-modifying medicine for MS, more often using special diet and more often reporting a high self-assessed quality of life. The exclusive CAM users were also characterized by less often experiencing side effects and less often assessing the CAM treatments used positively. Conclusion: Some differences in background characteristics, as well as in characteristics related to the use of CAM, were found between subgroups [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Aims. The aim of the study was to describe and compare (1) the types and prevalence of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments used among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) in the Nordic countries; (2) the types of conventional treatments besides disease-modifying medicine for MS that were used in combination with CAM treatments; (3) the types of symptoms/health issues addressed by use of CAM treatments. Methods. An internet-based questionnaire was used to collect data from 6455 members of the five Nordic MS societies. The response rates varied from 50.9% in Norway to 61.5% in Iceland. Results. A large range of CAM treatments were reported to be in use in all five Nordic countries. Supplements of vitamins and minerals, supplements of oils, special diet, acupuncture, and herbal medicine were among the CAM treatment modalities most commonly used. The prevalence of the overall use of CAM treatments within the last twelve months varied from 46.0% in Sweden to 58.9% in Iceland. CAM treatments were most often used in combination with conventional treatments. The conventional treatments that were most often combined with CAM treatment were prescription medication, physical therapy, and over-the-counter (OTC) medications. The proportion of CAM users who reported exclusive use of CAM (defined as use of no conventional treatments besides disease-modifying medicine for MS) varied from 9.5% in Finland to 18.4% in Norway. In all five Nordic countries, CAM treatments were most commonly used for nonspecific/preventative purposes such as strengthening the body in general, improving the body's muscle strength, and improving well-being. CAM treatments were less often used for the purpose of improving specific symptoms such as body pain, problems with balance, and fatigue/lack of energy. Conclusions. A large range of CAM treatments were used by individuals with MS in all Nordic countries. The most commonly reported rationale for CAM treatment use focused on improving the general state of health. The overall pattern of CAM treatment use was similar across the five countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]