Understanding clinical care and outcomes in adolescents and young adults living with multiple sclerosis: A…

Cross-sectionalMultiple sclerosis and related disorders· Jul 2026

Understanding clinical care and outcomes in adolescents and young adults living with multiple sclerosis: A cross-sectional analysis of invisible disability.

Rebecca Leung, Kristen Lefever, Laurie McLaughlin … Stefan Blum

Multiple Sclerosis & NeuroimmunologyCross-sectionalClinical practiceQ2IF 2.8

Young multiple sclerosis patients are out of work/study nearly triple the national rate.

Understanding clinical care and outcomes in adolescents and young adults living with multiple sclerosis: A cross-sectional analysis of invisible disability.

Rebecca Leung … Stefan Blum

Multiple sclerosis and related disorders · Jul 2026 · Q2 in Neurology

Background

Adolescents and young adults (adolescents and young adults) with multiple sclerosis (multiple sclerosis) navigate their disease during a critical developmental window.

Purpose

This study characterises clinical care and health-related quality of life (health-related quality of life) outcomes in an adolescents and young adults multiple sclerosis cohort, focusing on the cognitive and fatigue burden and its link to vocational stability.

Methods

This cross-sectional survey recruited people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis aged 25 years or younger at a Queensland tertiary service.

n = 21 responded

Results

23.8% of young multiple sclerosis patients weren't in work or study, vs 8% nationally.

23.8%

AYA MS cohort not in w

8%

National benchmark

More results

Of 25 eligible patients, 21 responded (84%; 81.8% female).

Mean age at diagnosis was 20.3 years; six (28.6%) were diagnosed before age 18.

Fatigue (90.5%) and self-reported cognitive dysfunction (81.0%) were most prevalent.

Estimated annual productivity loss for these eleven approached AUD 572,000.

“

Conclusion · 1 of 2

Substantial fatigue, cognitive, and emotional burden coexisted with marked vocational instability, despite widespread high-efficacy disease-modifying therapy use.

Conclusion · 2 of 2

Although the cross-sectional design precludes causal inference, the findings support broadening care to include cognitive screening, fatigue and sleep assessment, and vocational support in adolescents and young adults multiple sclerosis management.

Understanding clinical care and outcomes in adolescents and young adults living with multiple sclerosis: A cross-sectional analysis of invisible disability.

Understanding clinical care and outcomes in adolescents and young adults living with multiple sclerosis: A cross-sectional analysis of invisible disability.

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