Fatigue is one of the most common and disabling symptoms of multiple sclerosis, but measuring it accurately has been a challenge. Now, a Phase 2 trial shows that two simple questionnaires can reliably capture fatigue in people with relapsing MS.
The study tested the PROMIS-Fatigue-MS-8a and MSIS-29v2 questionnaires in adults with relapsing multiple sclerosis. The results were strong: the tools showed excellent internal consistency (meaning the questions hang together well) and good test-retest reliability (meaning the results are stable over time). They also showed high correlations with other measures of fatigue, and could detect differences between groups with varying fatigue levels.
Importantly, the questionnaires were sensitive to change over 12 weeks, meaning they can pick up on improvements or worsening. This makes them useful for clinical trials testing new treatments like frexalimab, the drug being studied in this trial.
However, the study is limited by the fact that few psychometric studies have been done with these specific questionnaires in MS. More research is needed to confirm their usefulness across different populations and settings.
