Restless Legs Syndrome in Multiple Sclerosis Patients ­ Patient Experience at Lipik Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation

The study included 60 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) hospitalized at our institution from September 1 to December 31, 2014. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of restless legs syndrome (RLS) in MS patients and RLS relationship with patient age, sex, degree of disability, form of MS, time elapsed from MS diagnosis and use of antidepressants. The diagnosis of RLS was made according to the criteria set by the International Restless Legs Syndrome Study Group. Of the 60 patients, 24 (40%) met the criteria for the existence of RLS. In the group of patients with RLS, there was a significantly higher proportion of women and those that were taking antidepressants. There were no statistically significant between-group differences according to age, duration of illness, degree of disability and clinical course of MS. In the study, 37.5% of patients that met the criteria for RLS diagnosis had not informed the neurologists about their difficulties. The high prevalence of RLS and the fact that a large proportion of patients did not inform the neurologists about their difficulties related to RLS point to the need of an active approach to diagnosis and treatment.

PSEUDOBULBAR AFFECT IN MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS.

The aim of the study was to determine the prevalence of pseudobulbar affect (PBA) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to analyze the link between PBA and patient age, sex, clinical course of MS, disease duration and degree of disability. The study was conducted on 79 MS patients that underwent inpatient rehabilitation at the Lipik Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation in the period from August 15, 2014 to February 15, 2015. PBA is a term used for an emotional disinhibition syndrome characterized by sudden and involuntary episodes of crying or laughing which are not in proportion to the stimulus applied or occur without stimulus. The condition can be present in patients with various neurological disorders, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, patients having recovered from stroke, or following traumatic brain injury. The estimated prevalence in patients with MS ranges from 10% to 46.2%. As a measuring instrument in the study, we used the Center for Neurologic Study-Lability Scale (CNS-LS), where a sum 17 denoted positive finding. The total number of respondents was 79, of which 33 (41.8%) met the CNS-LS criteria for the diagnosis of PBA. There was no statistically significant correlation between PBA, age and degree of disability, although PBA was more common in women and in patients with a secondary progressive form of the disease. We found that 42.4% of respondents with positive CNS-LS criteria for PBA did not inform their neurologist on the presence of sudden mood changes. The high frequency of PBA and the fact that a significant proportion of patients did not inform the neurologist on their affective disturbances call for an active approach to diagnosis and treatment.

Pain syndromes in multiple sclerosis patients - patient experience at Lipik Special Hospital for Medical Rehabilitation.

In the study, we evaluated 61 multiple sclerosis patients hospitalized at our hospital in the period from October 1, 2013 to February 15, 2014. The aim of the study was to investigate pain syndromes associated with the underlying disease. Pain in the month preceding assessment was reported by 90% of patients. Most patients suffered from low back pain (52%) and musculoskeletal pain (39%), followed by neck pain (31%), painful tonic spasm (26%), neuropathic extremity pain (23%) and pain due to spasticity (21%). Other types of pain were present in less than 20% of patients. A total of 67% of patients were taking analgesics; the most frequently used were nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs, while drugs against neuropathic pain were taken by a smaller number of patients. The high incidence of pain syndromes pointed to the importance of regular physical therapy procedures.