Pathways to treatments for better sleep in people living with MS

Summary

Dr Laura Laslett's research aims to investigate sleep in people living with MS. She will do this by collecting better information on sleep, understanding what treatments have already been tested for sleep, how sleep changes over time, and whether magnetic brain stimulation improves sleep, all in people living with MS.

To do this, she will use research grade fitness tracking watches to assess sleep continuously for 14 days, an app (MySymptoms) to report MS symptoms (including sleep) each day and will investigate whether this information adds value to information gathered using standard questionnaires on sleep.

Dr Laslett will review and summarise clinical trials already completed on sleep in people living with MS, to find out what treatments have been tested and to identify the most promising treatments for poor sleep.

To assess changes in sleep in Australians living with MS, Dr Laslett will assess how various aspects of sleep change over time, including changes in sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, and symptoms of restless legs syndrome over four years, using data from the Australian MS Longitudinal Study (AMSLS). She will also assess which factors are associated with any change in sleep quality over four years.

To investigate whether magnetic brain stimulation improves sleep, Dr Laslett will use data from the MagneTic brAin stimUlation foR mUltiple Sclerosis (TAURUS.2) trial, which is a clinical trial of magnetic brain stimulation in people living with MS. She will assess whether there is a relationship between the number and size of lesions seen on MRI scans and quality of sleep. She will also determine whether magnetic brain stimulation (daily for four weeks) is effective in improving sleep quality over four months.

Using this information, Dr Laslett will plan future clinical trials of treatments for poor sleep in people living with MS.