The Health-Related Quality of Life Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on People Living with Multiple Sclerosis and the General Population: A Comparative Study Utilizing the EQ-5D-5L with Psychosocial Bolt-Ons.

Objectives: Studies have shown that people living with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) were substantially impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, no study has compared the overall health-related quality of life impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on PwMS and the general population. Differences would have implications for crises/pandemic management policies.

Impact of sleep quality on health-related quality of life domains and the mediating effects of symptoms in people with multiple sclerosis.

Purpose: Many people living with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) experience poor sleep, which is associated with diminished overall health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We quantified associations between sleep quality and HRQoL domains and examined the extent to which other MS symptoms could account for these associations.

Methods: In this cross-sectional survey of 1,717 Australians with MS, we used Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) 8D and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) to assess HRQoL and sleep quality, respectively.

The subjective wellbeing of people living with Multiple Sclerosis in Australia: insights from the Personal Wellbeing Index.

Objectives: Subjective wellbeing has been defined as an individual's personal appraisal of their quality of life. Subjective wellbeing is associated with positive health behaviours and improved coping abilities. This study aimed to investigate the subjective wellbeing of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), using the novel Personal Wellbeing Index, and make comparisons with the general population.

Long-term disability trajectories in multiple sclerosis: a group-based trajectory analysis of the AusLong cohort.

Background: Previous natural history studies highlighted a consistent heterogeneity of disability trajectories among individuals with primary or secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (MS). However, evidence on disability progression in relapsing onset MS is scarce.The aim of this study was to investigate heterogeneity in disability accumulation over 10 years following a first clinical diagnosis of central nervous system demyelination (FCD) and identify genetic, demographic, environmental and clinical factors associated with these trajectories.

Disability, health-related quality of life, and self-concept change in people with multiple sclerosis: A moderated mediation.

Background: Disability is a key factor related to self-concept change following a Multiple Sclerosis (MS) diagnosis. Psychosocial factors (e.g.

Significantly increasing multiple sclerosis prevalence in Australia from 2010 to 2021.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) prevalence is increasing globally.

Objectives: To determine whether increased prevalence is continuing within Australia using our validated prescription-based ascertainment method.

Methods: We used methods employed in our 2010 and 2017 prevalence estimates.

Estimation of Transition Probabilities from a Large Cohort (> 6000) of Australians Living with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) for Changing Disability Severity Classifications, MS Phenotype, and Disease-Modifying Therapy Classifications.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune/neurodegenerative disease associated with progressing disability affecting mostly women. We aim to estimate transition probabilities describing MS-related disability progression from no disability to severe disability. Transition probabilities are a vital input for health economics models.

Protocol for a pragmatic randomised controlled feasibility study of : an online intervention for Australians with MS who are employed.

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) causes a wide variety of symptoms. Loss of income due to sickness and early retirement comprise one-third of the total cost of MS in Australia. An intervention that maximises work productivity and keeps people with MS in the workforce for longer could provide a large societal cost saving and improve quality of life.

The association of comorbidities with sleep quality among Australians with multiple sclerosis: Insights from the Australian Multiple Sclerosis Longitudinal Study.

Background: Comorbidities and poor sleep quality are prevalent among individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS). Our understanding of the effects of comorbidities on sleep quality in MS remains limited.

Objectives: The objectives were to investigate whether the number and presence of specific comorbidities have associations with sleep quality and to assess the relative contribution of comorbidity groups to sleep quality.

The quality of life impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS): evidence from the Australian MS Longitudinal Study.

Purpose: People living with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) in metropolitan Victoria, Australia, experienced a 112-day, COVID-19-related lockdown in mid-2020. Contemporaneously, Australian PwMS elsewhere experienced minimal restrictions, resulting in a natural experiment. This study investigated the relationships between lockdowns, COVID-19-related adversity, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL).

Exploring the cost-effectiveness of EBV vaccination to prevent multiple sclerosis in an Australian setting.

Background: Increasing evidence suggests the potential of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) vaccination in preventing multiple sclerosis (MS). We aimed to explore the cost-effectiveness of a hypothetical EBV vaccination to prevent MS in an Australian setting.

Methods: A five-state Markov model was developed to simulate the incidence and subsequent progression of MS in a general Australian population.

Using qualitative free-text data to investigate the lived experience of the COVID-19 pandemic for a large cohort of Australians with different multiple sclerosis related disability levels.

Background: No large-scale qualitative studies have investigated the lived experience of people living with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) during the pandemic according to their disability level. We used qualitative research methods to investigate the lived experience of a large cohort of Australians living with differing multiple sclerosis (MS)-related disability levels during the COVID-19 pandemic. We also provided useful contextualisation to existing quantitative work.

The multiple sclerosis self-concept change scale: Development and validation of a new measure.

Background: Self-concept change may impact psychological wellbeing and functioning in people with MS (pwMS). However, the extent and nature of change in self-concept that pwMS experience is poorly understood, owing to the lack of quantitative measures available to assess this construct.

Objective: To examine the factor structure, validity, and internal consistency of the newly developed Multiple Sclerosis Self-Concept Change Scale (MSSCCS).

Evaluation of Cell-Specific Epigenetic Age Acceleration in People With Multiple Sclerosis.

Background And Objectives: In multiple sclerosis (MS), accelerated aging of the immune system (immunosenescence) may be associated with disease onset or drive progression. DNA methylation (DNAm) is an epigenetic factor that varies among lymphocyte subtypes, and cell-specific DNAm is associated with MS. DNAm varies across the life span and can be used to accurately estimate biological age acceleration, which has been linked to a range of morbidities.

Changes in employment status over time in multiple sclerosis following a first episode of central nervous system demyelination, a Markov multistate model study.

Background And Purpose: Understanding predictors of changes in employment status among people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) can assist health care providers to develop appropriate work retention/rehabilitation programs. We aimed to model longitudinal transitions of employment status in MS and estimate the probabilities of retaining employment status or losing or gaining employment over time in individuals with a first clinical diagnosis of central nervous system demyelination (FCD).

Methods: This prospective cohort study comprised adults (aged 18-59 years) diagnosed with FCD (n = 237) who were followed for more than 11 years.

Estimating the disutility of relapse in relapsing-remitting and secondary progressive multiple sclerosis using the EQ-5D-5L, AQoL-8D, EQ-5D-5L-psychosocial, and SF-6D: implications for health economic evaluation models.

Background And Aims: Relapses are an important clinical feature of multiple sclerosis (MS) that result in temporary negative changes in quality of life (QoL), measured by health state utilities (HSUs) (disutilities). We aimed to quantify disutilities of relapse in relapsing remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS), and relapse onset MS [ROMS (including both RRMS and SPMS)] and examine these values by disability severity using four multi-attribute utility instruments (MAUIs).

Methods: We estimated (crude and adjusted and stratified by disability severity) disutilities (representing the mean difference in HSUs of 'relapse' and 'no relapse' groups as well as 'unsure' and 'no relapse' groups) in RRMS (n = 1056), SPMS (n = 239), and ROMS (n = 1295) cohorts from the Australian MS Longitudinal Study's 2020 QoL survey, using the EQ-5D-5L, AQoL-8D, EQ-5D-5L-Psychosocial, and SF-6D MAUIs.

Disease-modifying therapies do not affect sleep quality or daytime sleepiness in a large Australian MS cohort.

Background: Poor sleep is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and may impact daily functioning. The extent to which disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) contribute to sleep outcomes is under-examined.

Objective: To compare the effects of DMTs on sleep outcomes in an Australian cohort of people with MS and investigate associations between DMT use and beliefs about sleep problems and daily functioning (social functioning and activity engagement).

The association between disability progression, relapses, and treatment in early relapse onset MS: an observational, multi-centre, longitudinal cohort study.

The indirect contribution of multiple sclerosis (MS) relapses to disability worsening outcomes, and vice-versa, remains unclear. Disease modifying therapies (DMTs) are potential modulators of this association. Understanding how these endo-phenotypes interact may provide insights into disease pathogenesis and treatment practice in relapse-onset MS (ROMS).

A pro-inflammatory diet in people with multiple sclerosis is associated with an increased rate of relapse and increased FLAIR lesion volume on MRI in early multiple sclerosis: A prospective cohort study.

Background: A pro-inflammatory diet has been posited to induce chronic inflammation within the central nervous system (CNS), and multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the CNS.

Objective: We examined whether Dietary Inflammatory Index (DII) scores are associated with measures of MS progression and inflammatory activity.

Methods: A cohort with a first clinical diagnosis of CNS demyelination was followed annually (10 years,  = 223).

Instruments measuring change in cognitive function in multiple sclerosis: A systematic review.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinating/neurodegenerative disease associated with change in cognitive function (CF) over time. This systematic review aims to describe the instruments used to measure change in CF over time in people with MS (PwMS).

Methods: PubMed, OVID, Web of Science, and Scopus databases were searched in English until May 2021.