A study has provided evidence to something that has been discussed anecdotally for quite some time – a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) is difficult to make and it’s sometimes made incorrectly. The study was conducted by specialist MS neurologists from the Mayo Clinic, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Vermont and Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU).

The paper looked at 110 people who had either definitely or probably been misdiagnosed with MS. Some of the stunning figures shown in the paper include:

  • 33% of the people in the study had been living with the incorrect diagnosis for more than 10 years
  • 70% had been using disease-modifying therapies, leading to 31% having developed unnecessary morbidities
  • 4% had been participating in clinical trials for experimental treatments
  • The most common medical conditions that were incorrectly diagnosed as MS were: migraine (with and without other conditions), fibromyalgia, psychogenic disorders and neuromyelitis optica

Lead author, Andrew Solomon, says that “this study suggests significant and long-term unnecessary risks for these patients…while there may be different reasons for misdiagnoses by subspecialists and nonspecialists, this study suggests that we all make mistakes, and I think we can all do better”.

Read more about this study here.

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