Oppfølging av Multippel Sklerose-pasienter på Oslo universitetssykehus, Rikshospitalet

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic debilitating neurological disease. Objectives for this thesis included to update The Norwegian MS-registry and biobank for MS-patients at Oslo University Hospital (OUH), Rikshospitalet. Furthermore, we wanted to investigate for particularities in this MS-population and if they received equal follow-up as Norwegian MS-patients according to the MS-registry. Methods: A trained MS-clinician used a standardized form to collect detailed medical history for all MS-patients at OUH, Rikshospitalet from the patient registry. Written informed consent was obtained from almost all subjects, enabling inclusion in the MS-registry. Results: In 2017 we identified in total 196 MS-patients at OUH, Rikshospitalet. Due to limited time, only the 90 patients receiving disease modifying treatment (DMT) were investigated (77,8 % females, mean age 46,4 years (SD=10,1)). Fingolimod was most widely used, by 19 % (n=17) of the MS-patients. We found no significant differences in the use of DMT between OUH, Rikshospitalet and the national average. We found significant improvements by 71.1 (p-value lower than 0.001) and 79.8 months (p-value lower than 0.001) in times from diagnosis to treatment between before 2005 compared with the period 2005-2011 and after 2011, respectively. Conclusion: MS-patients at OUH, Rikshospitalet received treatment with DMT in accordance with the national average in 2017. We provide evidence of improved follow-up in terms of time from diagnosis to treatment in the MS group investigated. Our results must be interpreted with caution due to limitations in study design and incomplete patient journals. National medical registries enable monitoring of patients and may provide improvement of the health services