Outcomes and treatment management of a French cohort suffering from multiple sclerosis: A retrospective epidemiological study

Background: Despite a recent interest in Real World Data, such studies are scarce in multiple sclerosis (MS) disease. The objective was to describe the patients, disease progression and use of DMDs in France and compare clinical effectiveness of first-line injectable DMDs. Methods: We conducted a retrospective multicenter study in France, using data collected by 11 expert centers with the EDMUS software. Results: Overall, 15,039 French MS patients were followed for a mean of 11.5 years. Mean age at start of disease was 32 years and 74% were women. After the disease onset, median time to reach EDSS 3 was 11 years and 51.8% of patients were relapse-free 2 years after the disease's onset. The mean delay between onset of disease and initiation of treatment was 5.7 +/- 6.9 years. Over time, it decreased from 8.8 +/- 7.8 to 0.7 +/- 0.7 years for initiation of treatment before 2000 vs. after 2010, respectively. Two years after the initiation of treatment, the persistence rate of injectable disease modifying drugs (DMDs) was 60.7%. The effectiveness of these drugs were quite similar. Conclusion: This study brings new insight on the natural history of MS and the use and effectiveness of injectable DMDs in this condition.