To develop a bilingual (English and Spanish) educational framework to raise awareness of early Multiple Sclerosis (MS) signs in medical students, general neurologists, and the population at large.

Educational tools like BE-FAST are effective in educating patients, families, and students about early signs of stroke. Early detection of MS and clinically isolated syndromes (CIS) is of paramount importance in the age of effective disease modifying therapies (DMT) and improved diagnostic criteria, since timely treatment of MS alters disease trajectory and slows progression. There is a lack of public awareness about MS resulting in delays in initiation of DMT. This disproportionately impacts demographics with increased risk of severe disease burden and increased health disparities, including African Americans and Hispanics.

We performed a systematic review to determine the use of educational tools and mnemonics in MS education. Then, after consulting with culturally competent bilingual physicians and patients, we designed a mnemonic to encompass early signs of MS.  

We present a framework for early awareness recognizing CIS and prodromal MS, encompassed in the bilingual mnemonics VISIBLY-MS (English) and VISIBLE-MS (Spanish). VISIBLY/VISIBLE stand for (1) Vision changes: Painful vision loss (pérdida de Visión dolorosa in Spanish). (2) Belly or Back numbness and Balance issues (pérdida de sensacion en la Barriga y pérdida de Balance) (3) Limb weakness or Numbness (pérdida de Locomoción y sensacion en las pierna(s)) (4), Young people and (5) Edad joven, in Spanish. MS stands for Myriad of Minor Symptoms of the MS prodrome (Miríada de Síntomas menores). Our mnemonic is being included in our medical school curriculum and is taught to patients in the clinic. We also developed an infographic that can be downloaded for public education in MS.

VISIBL-MS provides a novel framework for MS-specific awareness that addresses the interconnection between language, culture, health literacy, and health outcomes.