Contributing factors to health‐related quality of life in multiple sclerosis

Background Health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) is lower in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) compared to the healthy population, psychological symptoms accompanying multiple sclerosis (MS) have a serious impact on the HRQoL of PwMS. Data regarding the subject, however, remain conflicting. Objectives To evaluate the patients' sociodemographic attributes, education, fatigue, depression, and cognitive impairment level of impact on the HRQoL for the whole cohort as well as comparing the sexes. Materials and Methods Three hundred and twenty‐two relapse‐remitting MS patients filled out the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), MS Quality of Life‐54 (MSQoL‐54) questionnaires, cognitive impairment were identified using Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) test. The patients' data were acquired from our clinic's MS registry or from patients' files. Results Depression and fatigue were found to have the most ubiquitous and robust effect on the overall and any given subdivision of the HRQoL composite. Other factors had a slight effect on some of the subscales when the whole cohort was evaluated. When the genders were compared, differences were found on 10 domains. Conclusion Psychopathological symptoms have a more powerful influence on the HRQoL of MS patients than physical impairment, also these symptoms influence men's and women's HRQoL with different power. This invokes the need for complex and personalized care in the treatment of PwMS. Ours is the first study to show a difference between the sexes in this regard.

Abstract licence: CC BY

1. 22.

   Recommendations for a Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) · 2011

42 more references, whose wording the paper’s licence keeps private.

A person counts once a day per paper. We keep no cookie and no address: a reader is a hash that changes every day. Any month under five reads shows no number.