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CME: Therapeutic Updates, Best Practices and Barriers to Care in the Prevention and Treatment of Multiple Sclerosis

ACCREDITATION EXPIRED: May 12, 2015

Activity Description / Statement of Need:

In this online CME self-learning program:

 

During the first five years of immunomodulatory therapy, one to two out of every five patients with multiple sclerosis MS stops taking their prescribed therapy. Evidence shows that one of the major determinants of how well a patient with MS adheres to therapy is the relationship the patient has with his or her healthcare provider; the degree to which a patient feels support from his or her provider is actually an independent predictor of adherence, according to a survey of patients with self-reported progressive forms of MS. The establishment of trust is dependent on the extent to which the patient feels the provider is being honest and open about prognosis, diagnosis, and treatment options. Additionally, examinations of adherence to medical therapy in general highlight the necessity of a patient’s understanding of their clinical circumstances, goals of therapy, and complexity of their medical regimen, necessitating a provider’s comprehension of the same.  Logistical factors at play in the medical system, like high drug costs and difficulty in physically obtaining medications, also deter patients from optimal compliance with prescribed therapy. One other independent predictor of adherence to therapy is severity of disability.  One study suggests that one out of two patients with MS who discontinue taking their immunomodulatory medication does so within the first two years of therapy, and that those with higher degrees of disability are particularly at risk.

 

 

Agenda

 

Introduction, Disclosures

Epidemiology and risk factors for MS

•Statistics: snapshots and trends

•Neurological dysfunction due to inflammatory and degeneration of the central nervous system

•Genetic, viral, and environmental influences

•Controversy: chronic cerebral spinal insufficiency

Symptomology and diagnosis of MS

•Neurologic symptoms or signs suggestive of demyelination

•Confirmation of lesions: MRI and evoked potential studies

•International diagnostic criteria for MS

•Differential diagnosis (rule out: atypical MS, Devic’s disease)

•Lab tests, biopsy, and pathology

•Different types (relapsing-remitting, secondary progressive, primary progressive, progressing-relapsing, malignant, fulminant)

•Patient cases

Treatment of patient with MS

•Clinically isolated syndrome

•Acute exacerbations

•Disease-modifying therapies for relapsing MS

•Primary progressive MS

•Symptom-case treatment

•Physical therapy

•Diet modification and life style intervention

•Best practice: putting it all together

•Patient cases

Barrier to Optimal Care in Patients with Multiple sclerosis

•Adherence/compliance

•Expense of therapy

•Difficulty accepting incurable nature of disease (only symptomatic management presently available)

•Patient confusion around different routes and schedules associated with the different components of combination therapy

•Patient cases

Summary, conclusion, and best practice recap

Target Audience:

Healthcare professionals specializing in geriatrics, internal medicine, neurology, primary care, or those who otherwise commonly care for patients with MS.

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This program is supported by an educational grant from EMD Serono.

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Release Date: May 12, 2013 -- Expiration Date: May 12, 2015

Faculty: Jacquelyn Bainbridge, PharmD, FCCP -- Caleb Oh, PharmD

Agenda

Learning Objectives

Accreditation

Faculty Disclosure and Resolution of COI

Instructions

System Requirements