Prognostic information for people with MS: Impossible or inevitable?

Mult Scler. 2020 Jun;26(7):771-773. doi: 10.1177/1352458518807101. Epub 2018 Oct 16.

Abstract

Delivering prognostic information is a challenging issue in medicine and has been largely neglected in the past. A major reason has been a suspected nocebo effect of pessimistic estimates, although this is largely unproven. Among people with multiple sclerosis (MS), there is a strong unmet need to receive long-term prognostic information. This viewpoint discusses reasons for this blind spot in physicians' attitude, foremost among which is the uncertainty of prognostic estimates. Possible strategies to move forward include tools to identify matching patients from large well-defined databases, to deliver an evidence-based individualized estimate of long-term prognosis, and its confidence interval, in a clinical setting.

Keywords: Prognosis; patient information; risk communication.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Chronic Disease
  • Health Communication*
  • Humans
  • Multiple Sclerosis / diagnosis*
  • Physician-Patient Relations*
  • Prognosis
  • Time Factors
  • Truth Disclosure*