Table 2.

Reasons for starting or switching to fingolimod

Primary reasonsa	n (%), responses
	Treatment-experienced patients switching to fingolimod	Treatment-naïve patients starting fingolimod
Physician recommendation	148 (15.6%)	68 (32.7%)
Convenience of oral medication	146 (15.4%)	24 (11.5%)
Side effects with previous treatment	118 (12.5%)	N/A
Treatment failure with prior medication	104 (11.0%)	N/A
Dislike of injections/infusions	103 (10.9%)	20 (9.6%)
Expect few(er) or tolerable side effects	95 (10.0%)	28 (13.5%)
Expected efficacy of fingolimod	95 (10.0%)	27 (13.0%)
Ability to take medication at home	71 (7.5%)	28 (13.5%)
Expected safety of fingolimod	40 (4.2%)	10 (4.8%)
Cost	18 (1.9%)	2 (1.0%)

Note:

^aParticipants asked to report all primary reasons for starting/switching; percentages represent proportion of total responses (n = 947 in treatment-experienced patients; n = 208 in treatment-naïve patients).

Abbreviations: n, number; N/A, not applicable.