Jeffrey G. Portnoy, M.A.
,
Yeshiva University, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Bronx, NY
Marnina B Stimmel, B.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Sara Flood, M.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Gabriel Hoffnung, M.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Mary Ann Picone, M.D.
,
Holy Name Medical Center, Teaneck, NJ
Lisa Glukhovsky, M.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Jessica H Sloan, B.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Roseann Archetti, B.S.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Eliana Pasternak, M.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Jason Botvinick, B.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Elana Mendelowitz, B.A.
,
Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology, Yeshiva University, Bronx, NY
Frederick W Foley, Ph.D.
,
Holy Name Medical Center, Teaneck, NJ
Background: The Incapacity Status Scale (ISS), part of the Minimal Record of Disability (MRD) for Multiple Sclerosis (MS), was one of the first measures of disability designed for the MS population. While the scale is psychometrically sound, it has not seen as much use in recent research as Kurtzke’s Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). As a patient-reported outcome (PRO) rather than a practitioner-evaluated scale of function, the ISS-2 has the potential to streamline evaluation in clinical settings; it can be completed by a patient or caregiver, either ahead of a patient’s visit or in the waiting room. The ISS-2 can also be used as a structured clinical interview tool that can provide a more precise description of patient functioning than a numerical rating on a systems-based scale.
Objectives: Present research will adapt the original ISS to a PRO format and make it more user-friendly, decrease scoring ambiguity, and improve item content to more accurately reflect present-day standards of MS care. Changes will be made through alterations in the order and scoring of responses, updates to grammar, phrasing, and terminology, and adjustments in scale criteria for levels of dysfunction. Additionally, the supplemental questionnaire on sexual dysfunction has been replaced with the well-validated and highly efficient 15-item Multiple Sclerosis Intimacy and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSISQ-15). This study will attempt to validate the ISS-2 and evaluate a newly proposed secondary scoring method designed to predict EDSS score by grading ISS-2 items in grouped functional systems modules.
Methods: ISS-2 will be normalized against the Patient Determined Disease Steps (PDDS), a patient-reported measure of disability shown to correlate strongly with EDSS. Additionally, ISS-2 secondary scores will be regressed against patients’ current EDSS scores. Patient data are to be collected from the Multiple Sclerosis Center at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, NJ.
Results: None
Conclusions: None
