Age, motor dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptoms impact quality of life in multiple sclerosis.
Patrícia de Morais Ferreira Brandão, Tayla Borges Lino, Renata Terra de Oliveira and 3 others
PMID 35674578WHAT IT FOUND
People with mild to moderate multiple sclerosis had lower quality of life than controls, especially in physical and mental domains.
Age, motor dysfunction and anxiety or depression were associated with poorer quality of life, not only disease severity.
Key findings
01People with MS had lower quality of life than controls on physical functioning, role physical, general health, vitality, social functioning and mental health, while bodily pain and role emotional were similar.
02In the MS group, age, motor dysfunction and neuropsychiatric symptoms together explained 56.6% of variability in quality of life; in the control group, age and neuropsychiatric symptoms explained 36.6%.
03Motor dysfunction affected mental health and vitality domains most in the MS group, and neuropsychiatric symptoms affected quality of life similarly in both groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot show that age, motor dysfunction or neuropsychiatric symptoms caused lower quality of life. It included only sedentary people with mild to moderate relapsing remitting MS and no cognitive decline, so it says little about active people or advanced MS. Fourteen people with MS were excluded for cognitive decline. The regression models did not explain 43.7% of quality of life variability in the MS group. Motor dysfunction was assessed only in the MS group, so its effect could not be compared with controls.
Declared interests
Funded by CAPES (code 001) and the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul research prorectorate. The supplied text does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read this as proof that treating anxiety, depression or motor dysfunction will improve quality of life. The study was cross-sectional, motor dysfunction was measured only in the MS group, and participants were sedentary people with mild to moderate MS without cognitive decline.