Does attendance at the ECTRIMS congress impact on therapeutic decisions in multiple sclerosis care?

Abstract

Conferences traditionally play an important role in the ongoing medical education of healthcare professionals. We assessed the influence of attending the ECTRIMS congress on therapeutic decision-making in multiple sclerosis (MS) care. A non-interventional, cross-sectional study involving 96 neurologists was conducted. Treatment escalation when therapeutic goals were unmet and management errors related to tolerability and safety scenarios of MS therapies were tested using different case-scenarios. Attendance at ECTRIMS was associated with an increase likelihood of treatment escalation in the presence of clinical progression (cognitive decline) and radiological activity (OR 2.44; 95% CI 1.06–5.82) and lower number of management errors (OR 0.26; 95% CI 0.07–0.98). Attendance at ECTRIMS may facilitate therapeutic decisions and reduction in management errors in MS care.