27.05.15
Too many GPs misdiagnosing MS, says charity
Too many people with MS are being misdiagnosed and having to wait years before the true cause of the symptoms is discovered, according to the MS Society.
The charity conducted a survey of 1,500 with MS, of which 81% had been misdiagnosed when they first visited their GP. The most common misdiagnosis was a trapped nerve (28%), while 14% were misdiagnosed with depression, anxiety or stress and 11% were told they’d suffered a stroke.
It also found that 39% of people had to wait a year or more for a diagnosis following their first visit to their GP with symptoms, and a quarter had to visit their GP over four times before they were referred to a neurologist for further examination.
Royal College of GPs chair Professor Maureen Baker defended her colleagues, describing MS as “incredibly difficult to diagnose in primary care” due to the similarity of symptoms to other, more common conditions.
“It is also a relatively rare condition – 5,000 new cases are diagnosed every year,” she added. “But to put this into context, GPs make over one million patient consultations everyday across the UK.
“Furthermore, the constraints of the standard 10-minute consultation make identification of such a complex and uncommon condition problematic at initial presentation.”
While waiting for a diagnosis nearly half of those surveyed (42%) turned to Google to find out what was wrong.
Upon receiving diagnosis although 81% of people had heard of MS before, one in three (32%) didn’t understand what it was and over half (52%) said they felt anxious with many commenting they thought they would “end up in a wheelchair”.
Michelle Mitchell, chief executive at the MS Society said: “People often experience symptoms which interfere with daily life whilst in their prime, when families and careers are developing. While we are aware that MS is a complex condition that isn’t easy to diagnose, we don’t want thousands of people to be left in ‘limbo’ suffering needlessly.
“It’s important for GPs to recognise the warning signs and refer people promptly to a consultant neurologist who can then make an accurate diagnosis.”
Out of the 1,515 people surveyed, the most common early symptoms of MS were reported as being:
- Numbness and altered sensations in different parts of body (tingling/pins and needles) – 53% (800 people)
- Difficulties with walking – 41% (623 people)
- Eye and vision problems – 47% (709 people)
- Fatigue – 38% (570)
- Problems with balance and coordination – 35% (531)
- Muscle weakness – 31% (473)
- Muscle stiffness and spasms – 20% (306)
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