Pain, cognition and quality of life associate with structural measures of brain volume loss in multiple sclerosis.
Nora E Fritz, Snehashis Roy, Jennifer Keller and 3 others
PMID 27689612WHAT IT FOUND
In 29 people with relapsing-remitting MS and 29 matched controls, higher lesion volume was linked with more pain, lower quality of life, and poorer processing speed.
Some brain structures related to symptoms, while others did not.
Key findings
01People with MS reported more pain, lower quality of life, and poorer processing speed than matched controls.
02Higher lesion volume was associated with increased reports of pain, lower quality of life, and lower cognitive performance.
03High pain interference and lower mental quality of life were associated with lower cortical gray matter volume, and high pain severity was associated with reduced thalamic and brainstem volumes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study included a small sample, and 7 participants were excluded from imaging analyses. The researchers did not adjust for the fact that many relationships were tested. The researchers did not control for disease-modifying therapy. The study was underpowered to examine drug effects on quality of life. Depression and fatigue were not measured directly. The study was cross-sectional, so it describes associations at a single time and does not show that a measure caused another.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not report funding or conflict-of-interest declarations.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the brain imaging links as proof that pain, low quality of life, or slow processing speed caused brain volume loss. This was a cross-sectional study, and it only describes associations at a single time point.