People with multiple sclerosis (MS) who switch between more than two disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) have a higher risk of relapses compared with those who never switch, regardless of how well these patients adhere to their prescribed medications, according to real-world study in Canada.
According to the researchers, these findings are consistent with a greater number of treatment switches in individuals with a poor response to different therapies and/or higher disease activity.
However, among patients who ever switched treatments, those who changed to second-line DMTs had a 56% lower risk of relapse after the switch compared with those who remained on a first-line DMT. That result suggests that higher-efficacy therapies can more effectively control relapses in these patients.
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