Personality traits predict perceived health-related quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis.

BACKGROUND: Personality traits can affect health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in different disorders. In multiple sclerosis (MS), personality traits can determine patients' willingness to take on more risky treatment options, predispose to neuropsychiatric symptoms and affect coping strategies. OBJECTIVES: We investigated the role of personality traits as possible predictors of HRQoL in a large cohort of persons with MS (PwMS). METHODS: In total, 253 consecutively recruited PwMS were screened for intellectual deficits with Raven Colour Progressive Matrices (RCPM), state anxiety with STAI-X1 and major depression on a clinical basis. PwMS' self-perceived mental and physical health status was measured with the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the personality profile with the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ-R). The correlation between HRQoL and personality traits was investigated by means of analysis of variance, adjusting for possible confounders. RESULTS: Of the 253 MS patients, 195 (F:M=2.75), aged 41.7±10.2 years were included in the analysis. The variance of SF-36 mental and physical composite score was largely explained by extraversion and neuroticism. CONCLUSIONS: Our data confirm that PwMS' HRQoL is largely influenced by personality traits, which may therefore act as predictors of perceived quality of life and should be included in clinical and experimental settings focusing on HRQoL.

Self-perceived physical functioning and health status among fully ambulatory multiple sclerosis patients.

We investigated the self-perceived health status among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients with no or mild disability according to the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and the impact of self-rated physical functioning. A sample of fully ambulatory (EDSS < or = 3.5) consecutive patients with MS was included after screening for major cognitive impairment. The EDSS was used to measure nervous system signs or disability, and the self-rated health status was assessed using the SF-36 Health Survey. The normative SF-36 data for the general population of Italy were used for comparison. The 197 MS patients analyzed (150 women and 47 men) had significantly lower mean SF-36 scores than the general population, except for bodily pain. The scores did not differ significantly by gender. The same analysis performed on a subsample of 105 patients (79 women and 26 men) with minimal disability in one functional system (EDSS < or = 2.0) yielded similar results. EDSS was weakly correlated with the physical functioning subscale and explained only 2% of the variance in the physical functioning subscale. The regression of the physical functioning subscale on the other seven SF-36 subscales was significantly lower among MS patients than in the general population for all subscales, except for role limitation due to physical health problems and social functioning. Neither disease course nor duration correlated significantly with SF-36 subscales. The SF-36 physical functioning subscale seemed to indicate physical functioning more sensitively than EDSS. These findings should encourage the implementation of specific strategies aimed at improving the quality of the self-perceived health status already in the early disease stage.