ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic neurologic condition with a variety of symptoms which have a great impact on quality of life even in the early stages. The aim of this study was to investigate, and to compare overall subjective quality of life with self-perceived health in patients with early stages of MS. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty patients with MS (22 women, 8 men; mean age 37.3±9.7years; relapsing-remitting MS; EDSS<2.5; all on immunomodulatory therapy: IFN, GA) were enrolled in the study. The QOL was assessed using the Personal well-being index (PWI) and health was measured by the Short Form 36-Item Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire. RESULTS: Results indicate that MS patients in early stage experience similar health and quality of life, comparing to the general adult population. Analysis of self-reported change in health by categories showed that 50% patients access their health about the same as a year before, 9 rate their health as worse as one year before and 5 rate their health even better. Correlation analysis revealed that SF-36 domain Mental health correlates with most PWI domains. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that MS patients in early stage experience similar quality of life as general adult population. Also, it was revealed that health domain Mental health is correlated with various quality of life domains, suggesting that mental health is of great significance for subjective quality of life perception. However, it is important to emphasize the distinction between the health and quality of life, due to the fact that one can perceive his/hers own health as impaired, but at the same time can have satisfactory quality of life.
