Concordance Between Persons with Multiple Sclerosis and Treating Physician on Medication Effects and Health Status.

Background As the number of treatment options for multiple sclerosis (MS) has expanded, alignment between physician and patient on effects of medication has emerged as important for medication persistence/discontinuation. Objective To evaluate physician-patient agreement levels on medication effect and health status. Methods Persons with MS (PwMS) (n=71) participated in a cross-sectional study collecting their satisfaction (using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication), intention to dis/continue treatment and global health perception; physicians assessed response to medication and global health status. Results Concordance between PwMS' assessment of medication effectiveness and physician's assessment on response to medication, health status and EDSS were rs= 0.50, rs= 0.57 and rs= -0.58, respectively. Conclusion The significant concordance attests to physician-patient effective communication and may contribute to improved medication adherence.