CG28
A Prospective Multicenter Study for Assessing the Validity of the Musiqol Instrument Among Arabic-Speaking Patients with MS
Objectives: To prospectively assess correlations between MusiQoL scores and disease activity (Expanded Disability Status Scale; EDSS) and progression (annualized relapse rate; ARR) over 12 months in Arabic-speaking patients with MS treated with the serum-free formulation of subcutaneous (sc) interferon (IFN) β-1a.
Methods: This prospective, international, multicenter cohort study recruited Arabic-speaking patients with MS who had been treated with serum-free sc IFN β-1a for ≥6 months prior to entering the study. Patients’ disease characteristics were assessed at baseline, Month 6 and Month 12. The MusiQoL questionnaire was administered at baseline and Month 12. Changes from baseline in MusiQoL total and sub-domain scores were compared using the paired t-test. Correlations between changes in these scores from baseline and important clinical parameters were analyzed using the Pearson correlation coefficient and the point-biserial correlation coefficient.
Results: A total of 152 patients were included: 65.13% were female; mean (standard deviation [SD]) age was 33.52 (0.85) years; MS duration, 4.4 (0.33) years; and baseline EDSS score, 2.04 (0.11). Mean (SD) MusiQoL total score was 65.55 (1.31) at baseline and 66.79 (1.32) at Month 12 (p=0.28). There was no correlation between MusiQoL total score and ARR (r=–0.11; p=0.17), but ARR was negatively correlated with change from baseline in the MusiQoL symptom domain (r=–0.28, p<0.01). There was no correlation between change from baseline in MusiQoL total score and EDSS score at Month 12 (r=–0.11, 0.1733).
Conclusions: These findings suggest that QoL, as assessed by the Arabic-language version of MusiQoL, captures changes in some aspects of patients’ clinical status over 12 months. Periodic assessment of QoL should be routinely implemented in the management of MS patients.