Treatment response scoring systems to assess long-term prognosis in self-injectable DMTs relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis patients

Background and objectives: Different treatment response scoring systems in treated MS patients exist. The objective was to assess the long-term predictive value of these systems in RRMS patients treated with self-injectable DMTs. Methods: RRMS-treated patients underwent brain MRI before the onset of therapy and 12 months thereafter, and neurological assessments every 6 months. Clinical and demographic characteristics were collected at baseline. After the first year of treatment, several scoring systems [Rio score (RS), modified Rio score (MRS), MAGNIMS score (MS), and ROAD score (RoS)] were calculated. Cox-Regression and survival analyses were performed to identify scores predicting long-term disability. Results: We included 319 RRMS patients. Survival analyses showed that patients with RS > 1 and RoS > 3 had a significant risk of reaching an EDSS of 4.0 and 6.0 The score with the best sensitivity (61%) was the RoS, while the MRS showed the best specificity (88%). The RS showed the best positive predictive value (42%) and the best accuracy (81%). Conclusions: The combined measures integrated into different scores have an acceptable prognostic value for identifying patients with long-term disability. Thus, these data reinforce the concept of early treatment optimization to minimize the risk of long-term disability.