To identify the individual components of the SymptoMScreen questionnaire associated with therapeutic status quo among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Status quo (SQ) is defined as patients’ preference to maintain the current treatment when there was clinical and radiological evidence of disease activity. Recent studies showed that patients’ self-reported functional status is associated with SQ.  

A total of 211 patients completed the study.  The mean SymptoMScreen score was 16.5 ± 14 and SQ score was 2.82 ± 2.0. Thirty-five percent (n=74) of participants were unwilling to escalate therapy in more than half of the presented scenarios despite being informed of high-risk of disease progression. In the univariate analysis, spasticity, bladder function, vision, cognition, depression, and anxiety were associated with SQ. The multivariable analysis adjusted for age, gender, employment status, and EDSS score revealed that only vision (β coeff 0.32; 95%CI 0.05-0.50) and depression (β coeff 0.29; 95%CI 0.006-0.58) remained associated with SQ.

Therapeutic status quo was observed in more than one third of MS patients. Vision impairment and depression were the most common factors associated with SQ.