Data - Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology and Health Outcomes in Saskatchewan

The purpose of this project is to address the following objectives:

  1. Identify factors that affect or influence MS over time
  2. Determine how effective MS treatments are over time
  3. Determine how individuals with MS in Saskatchewan use the health care system and what the costs to the health care system are
  4. Determine the quality of life for individuals living with MS in Saskatchewan

You will be asked permission as related to the following:

  1. Data will be collected from your medical chart from the MS Clinic. This data may also be linked with health data that the government already collects, related to your use of the health care system. For example; MRIs, blood tests related to MS or other neurological condition(s), and information concerning hospital visits/stays.
    • We will also give you the option to consent to having your de-identified data included in an international data registery called MSBase.
  2. You may be asked to complete two or three questionnaires during your clinic appointment, depending on the time available. The first is a short questionnaire called the Health Utility Index (HUI). The HUI has 16 questions that ask information about your quality of life. The second questionnaire is called the Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ). The GLTEQ is a short survey to assess your physical activity level. The third questionnaire is called the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54, which consists of 54 questions that also ask about your quality of life. If you are uncomfortable with any of the questions in either the HUI, GLTEQ, or the MSQoL-54, you do not need to answer them.
  3. Contact you again and invite you to participate in future research studies for which you may be eligible.

Blood Draw - Multiple Sclerosis Epidemiology and Health Outcomes in Saskatchewan

The purpose of this project is to address the following objectives:

  1. Identify factors that cause, affect or influence MS over time
  2. Determine how effective MS treatments are over time
  3. Determine how individuals with MS in Saskatchewan use the health care system and what the costs to the health care system are
  4. Determine the quality of life for individuals living with MS in Saskatchewan
  5. Test immune cells and their contents taken from blood samples of people with MS and examine them in relation to 1-4 above

 You will be asked permission to:

After you consent to participate in this study, we will contact you to arrange a time for you to come back to the Saskatoon City Hospital and have your blood sample drawn. 

  1. Providing a blood sample for biomarker testing, which includes the following (DNA, RNA, protein, lipid and antibodies) and is described in more detail below. A biomarker is a substance in your blood that may help diagnose MS in others or predict how MS will worsen over time.
    • If you are also a patient in the Saskatoon MS Clinic who has consented to participate in the data portion of this study, your blood sample results will be linked to your de-identified patient data via a coded participant ID (i.e., 139-0001, 139-0002, etc.).
  2. Contact you again and invite you to participate in future research studies for which you may be eligible.

Saskatchewan MS Drugs Research Program

The primary purpose of this research is to:

  • Describe drug utilization patterns for persons with MS in SK (including understanding the number of people who are not on any treatment)
  • Describe the direct costs associated with MS disease-modifying drugs in Saskatchewan
  • Examine relationships between treatment with MS drugs and other diseases (co-morbidities), health-related quality of life and other clinical outcomes, such as disability progression, relapse rates, hospital and physician visits, complications, side effects and function