Reliability and acceptance of dreaMS, a software application for people with multiple sclerosis: a feasibility study

BACKGROUND: There is an unmet need for reliable and sensitive measures for better monitoring people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) to detect disease progression early and adapt therapeutic measures accordingly. OBJECTIVE: To assess reliability of extracted features and meaningfulness of 11 tests applied through a smartphone application (“dreaMS”). METHODS: PwMS (age 18–70 and EDSS ≤ 6.5) and matched healthy volunteers (HV) were asked to perform tests installed on their smartphone once or twice weekly for 5 weeks. Primary outcomes were test–retest reliability of test features (target: intraclass correlation [ICC] ≥ 0.6 or median coefficient of variation [mCV] < 0.2) and reported meaningfulness of the tests by PwMS. Meaningfulness was self-assessed for each test on a 5-point Likert scale (target: mean score of > 3) and by a structured interview. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04413032. RESULTS: We included 31 PwMS (21 [68%] female, mean age 43.4 ± 12.0 years, median EDSS 3.0 [range 1.0–6.0]) and 31 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. Out of 133 features extracted from 11 tests, 89 met the preset reliability criteria. All 11 tests were perceived as highly meaningful to PwMS. CONCLUSION: The dreaMS app reliably assessed features reflecting key functional domains meaningful to PwMS. More studies with longer follow-up are needed to prove validity of these measures as digital biomarkers in PwMS. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00415-022-11306-5.