Multiple Sclerosis Progression Discussion Tool: Usability and Usefulness in Clinical Practice (Preprint)

BACKGROUND A digital tool (Multiple Sclerosis Progression Discussion tool, MSProDiscuss) was developed to facilitate a discussion between a healthcare professional (HCP) and patient in evaluating early, subtle signs of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease progression. OBJECTIVE To report findings on the usability and usefulness testing of the MSProDiscuss tool in the real-world clinical setting. METHODS In this cross sectional, online survey, HCPs across 34 countries completed an initial individual questionnaire (comprising 7 questions on comprehensibility, usability and usefulness after using MSProDiscuss during each patient consultation) and a final questionnaire (comprising 13 questions on comprehensibility, usability and usefulness, and integration and adoption into clinical practice to capture their overall experience on using the tool). Responses were provided on a 5-point Likert scale. All analyses were descriptive, and no statistical comparisons were made. RESULTS In total, 301 HCPs tested the tool in 6974 MS patients, of which 77% were relapsing remitting MS patients including those suspected to be transitioning to secondary progressive MS. The time taken to complete MSProDiscuss was 1-4 minutes in 97% (initial) to 98% (final) of the cases. In 94% (initial) to 97% (final) cases, HCPs agreed (4 or 5 on the Likert scale) that patients were able to comprehend the questions from the tool. HCPs were willing to use the tool again in the same patient 91% (initial) of the cases. MSProDiscuss was useful in discussing MS symptoms and their impact on daily activities (88% initial and 92% final) and cognitive function (79% for both initial and final) and in discussing progression in general (88% initial and 90% final). While completing the final questionnaire, 95% of HCPs agreed that the questions were similar to those asked in regular consultation and the tool helped to better understand the impact of MS symptoms on daily activities (91%) and cognitive function (80%). Overall, 92% of the HCPs would recommend MSProDiscuss to a colleague, and 86% are willing to integrate it into their clinical practice. CONCLUSIONS MSProDiscuss is a usable and useful tool to facilitate a physician-patient discussion on disease progression in daily clinical practice. Most HCPs agreed that the tool is easy to use and were willing to integrate MSProDiscuss into their daily clinical practice.