A newly published systematic review in Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders revealed limited trial-based evidence on the impact of disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) on fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), meaning fatigue assessment was underrepresented and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) data were suboptimal. These findings suggest the importance of considering the impact of the different DMTs on fatigue and conducting randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that include fatigue as an outcome to support the MS community.
Investigators identified 130 RCTs of DMTs of which 7 (5%) assessed fatigue as an outcome. Among the 7 trials, only 2 (28%) had an assessment of fatigue as an outcome and had fatigue as an adverse event as reported by the clinician. In 1 of the trials, OPTIMUM (NCT02425644), ponesimod 20 mg had a significantly better stabilization of fatigue than teriflunomide 14 mg. In contrast, in the other trial, TENERE (NCT00883337), teriflunomide 7 mg significantly improved fatigue results among patients with MS compared with interferon beta-1a
