Epidemiol Health.  2017;39:e2017008. 10.4178/epih.e2017008.

The impact of disease characteristics on multiple sclerosis patients' quality of life

• Rezapour A
• Almasian Kia A
• Goodarzi S
• Hasoumi M
• Nouraei Motlagh S
• Vahedi S

• KMID: 2406612
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4178/epih.e2017008

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to investigate the effects of characteristics of MS such as disease course, severity, and relapses on patients' QoL.
METHODS
This was a cross-sectional study, in which 171 patients were enrolled. Health-related QoL was assessed using the Persian version of the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 questionnaire. To measure patients' disability status, we used the Expanded Disability Status Scale. Other variables included in the study were disease course and relapses of the disease.
RESULTS
The average scores for patients' physical and mental QoL were 60.9±22.3 and 59.5±21.4, respectively. In a bivariate analysis, disease course, severity of the disease, and relapses were significantly associated with the physical and mental health composite scores. In a hierarchal regression analysis, disease course, severity of the disease, and relapses were responsible for 38 and 16% of the variance in physical and mental QoL, respectively. It was also observed that relapses were a strong predictor of both physical and mental QoL.
CONCLUSIONS
Our results showed that disease characteristics significantly affected both dimensions of QoL. It is therefore suggested that health care providers should be aware of these characteristics of MS to more successfully improve MS patients' QoL.

Keyword

Quality of life; Multiple sclerosis; Iran; Disease attributes

MeSH Terms

Cross-Sectional Studies
Disease Attributes
Health Personnel
Humans
Iran
Mental Health
Multiple Sclerosis*
Quality of Life*
Recurrence