Reliability of televisits for patients with mild relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis in the COVID-19 era

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the cost-effectiveness of telemedicine (TM) for the management of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) has been provided recently. However, some doubts persist about the accuracy of neurological examinations performed remotely. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated the reliability of neurological evaluations performed through TM in mild MS patients as compared with standard in-person visits. METHODS: In total, 76 patients with relapsing–remitting MS and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤ 3.5 were consecutively recruited. Of them, 40 patients (52.6%) accepted to undergo both in-person and TM evaluations with independent examiners within 48 h. We alternatively asked patients to assure or not the presence of a caregiver during TM visits. A satisfaction questionnaire was administered to all participants. RESULTS: The inter-rater agreement attributed by two independent neurologists during TM visit was high (κ > 0.80) for EDSS and Functional Systems (FS) scores. Moderate agreement between TM and in-person evaluations emerged for pyramidal (κ = 0.57; p < 0.001), brainstem (κ = 0.57; p < 0.001), bowel and bladder (κ = 0.54; p < 0.001) and sensory (κ = 0.51; p < 0.001) FS scores, higher in patients providing the support of a caregiver. A good reliability was reported for EDSS scores computed during remote and in-person visits (ICC = 0.83; 95% CI 0.70–0.91; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite the complexity of neurological examination, TM could be useful in monitoring MS patients with low disability. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10072-022-05868-5.