This study is now complete.

Funded by the MS Society, and in conjunction with the UK MS Register, this study explores the impact of COVID-19 on people with MS and whether the risk profiles for developing COVID-19 and resultant outcomes differ based on Disease Modifying Therapies (DMTs). The study is co-led by Dr Nikos Evangelou (Division of Clinical Neurosciences) with Prof Roshan das Nair as co-applicant and has had over 4,000 people with MS respond to this longitudinal survey, with data collected every two weeks.

Our findings:

Phase 1 of this study (17^th March to 24^th April 2020) has been completed and the findings have been published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. Based on data from 3,910 people with MS and 1283 participants without MS, we found that:

• Incidence of COVID-19 in our population of people with MS was not higher than that of the general population
• People with MS were not at a higher risk of having COVID-19 compared with their siblings without MS
• People with MS taking DMTs did not have an increased risk of contracting COVID-19
• No individual DMTs were noticeably over-represented among people MS with COVID-19

Further findings are available here.

Prof das Nair has also completed an Ethnographic study about the development, deployment and dissemination of this study during the pandemic. Results are avaialbe here.

Our impact so far:

• During the data collection period, we communicated our findings every 2 weeks on YouTube to people with MS, and the MS interest group of the Association of British Neurologists (ABN).
• We made our data dictionary available to the International MS Federation (a global network of 48 MS organisations, people affected by MS, volunteers and staff from around the world).
• MS medications cost the NHS more than £350 million/year. Our results informed the COVID-19 modifications of the NHS guidelines on prescribing MS high-cost drugs and influenced the ABN guidelines on the management of MS during COVID-19. Our study results continue to be fed to the ABN to inform their revised guidelines expected in November.
• Internationally, we were amongst the very few platform presentations on COVID-19 and MS at the recent annual joint European and American MS conference (ACTRIMS/ECTRIMS), participated at the ACTRIMS COVID-19 press conference for international medical media, invited and presented at webinars by the MS Academy, MS Society, Shift MS, International MS forums, and the Dutch Neurological Society. Clinicians from around the world have been contacting us on the best use of DMTs in MS.
• We work with the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative to increase use of DMTs with minimal hospital use and reducing the impact to hospital services stretched by the COVID-19 efforts.