Table 1.
Patient characteristics.
| Characteristic | Whole sample (n = 156) | Therapy-naïve patients (n = 24) | Patients with experiences with parental DMTs only (n = 92) | Patients with experiences with parenteral and oral DMTs (n = 40) | p |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in years, median (range) | 37 (18–72) | 38.5 (22–56) | 36 (20–72) | 38.5 (18–61) | 0.835 |
| Time since first diagnosis in months, median (range) | 52.5 (1–336) | 1 (1–228) | 60 (1–336) | 68.5 (7–312) | <0.001* |
| EDSS score, median (range) | 2 (0–7.5) | 2 (0–5) | 2 (0–7.5) | 2 (1–6) | 0.24 |
| Sex | 0.21 | ||||
| Male | 49 (31.4%) | 11 (45.8%) | 28 (30.4%) | 10 (25%) | |
| Female | 107 (68.6%) | 13 (54.2%) | 64 (69.6%) | 30 (75%) | |
| Marital status | 0.455 | ||||
| Single | 45 (28.8%) | 9 (37.5%) | 26 (28.3%) | 10 (25%) | |
| Married/partnership | 94 (60.3%) | 14 (58.3%) | 57 (61.9%) | 23 (57.5%) | |
| Divorced/separated/widowed | 17 (10.9%) | 1 (4.2%) | 9 (9.8%) | 7 (17.5%) | |
| Years of education | 0.38 | ||||
| 9 | 47 (30.1%) | 9 (37.5%) | 27 (29.3%) | 11 (27.5%) | |
| 10 | 49 (31.4%) | 9 (37.5%) | 30 (32.6%) | 10 (25%) | |
| 13 | 31 (19.9%) | 3 (12.5%) | 16 (17.4%) | 12 (30%) | |
| 18 | 29 (18.6%) | 3 (12.5%) | 19 (20.7%) | 7 (17.5%) | |
| Employment$ | 0.259 | ||||
| Fulltime job | 74 (47.4%) | 16 (66.7%) | 27 (29.3%) | 13 (32.5%) | |
| Part-time job | 39 (25%) | 6 (25%) | 21 (22.8%) | 12 (30%) | |
| Not working/retired | 42 (26.9%) | 2 (8.3%) | 43 (46.7%) | 15 (37.5%) | |
| Number of switches in DMT, median (range) | 1 (0–6) | 0 | 1 (0–5) | 2 (0–6) | <0.001‡ |
| Depression,§ median (range) | 2 (0–4) | 1 (0–3) | 2 (1–4) | 2 (1–4) | 0.051 |
| Sum score of side effects,|| median (range) | 5 (0–19) | 2 (0–3) | 4 (0–19) | 9 (0–19) | <0.05‡ |
Note: p refers to differences between the patient subgroups.
*
Therapy- naïve patients differ from other groups. $ Two patients did not respond. The values refer to n =155 for the whole sample and n = 91 for patients experienced with parental DMTs. ‡ All groups differ. § Patients had to indicate how often they felt depressive during the preceding three months (1 = seldom, 2 = sometimes, 3 = often, 4 = most of the time). || For further details, see the section on the influence of patient characteristics on preferences.
DMT, disease-modifying treatment; EDSS, Expanded Disability Status Scale.