Importance of physiotherapy and occupational therapy according to people with multiple sclerosis-results from an online survey.

The survey was online and self-selected, so it may have attracted people who were already more familiar with physiotherapy and occupational therapy. People with cognitive impairment, lower health or technology literacy, lower socio-economic status, or different native languages may have been excluded by the online format. The paper did not use a formal episode-specific disability measure to assign therapy experiences to disease stages, so stage patterns are indicative rather than definitive. The findings are self-reported experiences and satisfaction, not measured clinical outcomes, so they cannot show that a therapy improved walking, fatigue, participation, or disease course. Posture exercise therapy had very few users, including four current users and 46 free-text responses, so its themes are less stable than those for physiotherapy and occupational therapy. Most participants reported being able to walk (90.7%), so experiences of people who cannot walk may be underrepresented. The study was conducted in the Netherlands, where reimbursement and service organization differ from other countries.

The study was supported by the Dutch patient organization MS Vereniging Nederland/Dutch Multiple Sclerosis Society. The organization helped recruit participants but was not involved in analyzing or reporting the results.

Do not read high satisfaction and reported value as proof that physiotherapy or occupational therapy changes disease course or improves outcomes. This paper reports survey experiences and perceived value, not a trial of treatment effects.