STOPMS (Study of people attending an MS Retreat). This study commenced in April 2002 with the first group to attend an OMS retreat.
This study commenced in April 2002 with the first group to attend an Overcoming MS retreat. Over the subsequent 11 years to May 2013, when the study ceased recruiting new participants, people with MS attending these retreats were asked if they wished to participate in an ongoing study.
This would measure their quality of life with the MSQOL-54 questionnaire at intervals of one, five, ten and twenty years after the retreat. Initially, there was also a two and a half-year point follow-up, but this was omitted to reduce the burden on participants.
The study was amended in 2011 to include detailed data on lifestyle factors and medications. This allowed the research team to determine whether retreat participants had adhered to recommendations in the years following the retreats, and the extent to which adherence correlates with outcome.
► Effect of a residential retreat promoting lifestyle modifications on health-related quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis. Qual Primary Care 2010;8:379-89 View PDF
► Health-related quality of life outcomes at 1 and 5 years after a residential retreat promoting lifestyle modification for people with multiple sclerosis. Neurol Sciences 2013; 34:187-95 View PDF