‘More important than a walking stick’
Measuring cognitive change over time “may be a more important predictor than a walking stick in terms of quality of life and outcomes, and it affects clinical decisionmaking,” said Dr. Giovannoni.
The findings are not novel, as post hoc analyses of other studies showed similar results. However, this new analysis adds more evidence to the importance of cognition in MS, Dr. Giovannoni noted.
“I have patients with EDSS of 0 or 1 who are profoundly disabled because of cognition. You shouldn’t just assume someone is not disabled because they don’t have physical disability,” he said.
However, Dr. Giovannoni noted that the study found an association and does not necessarily indicate a cause.
‘Valuable’ insights
Antonia Lefter, MD, of NeuroHope, Monza Oncologic Hospital, Bucharest, Romania, cochaired the session highlighting the research. Commenting on the study, she called this analysis from the “renowned” EXPAND study “valuable.”
In addition, it “underscores” the importance of assessing cognitive processing speed, as it may predict long-term disability progression in patients with SPMS, Dr. Lefter said.
The study was funded by Novartis Pharma AG, Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Giovannoni, a steering committee member of the EXPAND trial, reported receiving consulting fees from AbbVie, Actelion, Atara Bio, Biogen, Celgene, Sanofi-Genzyme, Genentech, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Roche, and Reva. He has also received compensation for research from Biogen, Roche, Merck-Serono, Novartis, Sanofi-Genzyme, and Takeda. Dr. Lefter has reported no relevant financial relationships.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.