The NEuRoMS (Neuropsychological Evaluation and Rehabilitation in Multiple Sclerosis) project aims to:
- Develop a neuropsychological evaluation pathway, to routinely assess all people with MS for cognitive problems attending NHS MS clinics.
- Develop and test a brief neuropsychological rehabilitation programme for people with MS with ‘mild’ or 'moderate' cognitive problems.
NEuRoMS is a multi-year programme of research involving six interlinked ‘work packages’ (WPs), each embedded with several smaller studies.
What we will do
We held a series of discussions with people with MS, their families, NHS staff and patient organisations to help develop an electronic screening tool, to enable people with MS to complete the cognitive tests at home on a mobile phone/tablet/computer, or on a mobile phone/tablet at the clinic.
We then conducted a preliminary test of the new neuropsychological evaluation and rehabilitation pathway in three NHS MS clinics, interviewing patients and staff to see how well it has worked, and to understand the barriers and facilitators to its adoption. We will also validate and establish norms for the newly developed screening tools.
Next, we conducted a study with 79 patients in three NHS MS clinics to see whether the pathway is acceptable to people with MS and is feasible to conduct a large study to test the rehabilitation.
Finally, we will test the rehabilitation with about 500 people in seven NHS MS clinics to see whether those who receive the rehabilitation report better outcomes and quality of life than those who did not receive it, and whether offering rehabilitation leads to longer-term savings for the NHS and wider society. We will develop strategies to deliver the screening and rehabilitation across the NHS.
Since we began our study, approximately 5000 people with MS in four NHS Trusts in the UK have completed the cognitive screening on the NEuRoMS platform. The NEuRoMS cognitive screening platform is now part of the standard clinical pathway for people with MS in Barts Health NHS Trust, Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, and United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust, with three other Trusts from Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield joining soon. If you would like to find out how your NHS Trust can get involved in NEuRoMS, please contact us via the Contact Us page.
