Abstract
Background: Death and the anxiety of it becomes more apparent when confronted with a chronic disease. Even though multiple sclerosis (MS) is a treatable condition today, it is still accompanied by a multitude of impairments, which in turn may intensify of death anxiety. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between depression, anxiety and death anxiety in individuals with MS. Methods: Fifty-six MS patients were recruited at the Department of Neurology of the University Clinic in Basel. Death anxiety was assessed using the Bochumer Questionnaire on attitude to death and death anxiety 2.0 (BOFRETTA 2.0). Results: Scores of death anxiety towards it in MS patients were low. Only disability (EDSS) was moderately correlated with death anxiety. Depression in MS was significantly correlated with fatigue and disability, but not with the BOFRETTA 2.0. Conclusion: Scores of death anxiety and the attitude towards death are low in this MS cohort. It was shown that both psychopathological and neurological deficits impact the subject of death with respect to multiple sclerosis.
Highlights
The heterogeneous appearance of multiple sclerosis (MS) allows silent symptoms such as depression, anxiety and fatigue to fade into the background, since the physical impairments are primary in the treatment of MS
Even though multiple sclerosis (MS) is a treatable condition today, it is still accompanied by a multitude of impairments, which in turn may intensify of death anxiety
The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between depression, anxiety and death anxiety in individuals with MS
Summary
The heterogeneous appearance of MS allows silent symptoms such as depression, anxiety and fatigue to fade into the background, since the physical impairments are primary in the treatment of MS. It has been shown that there is increased death anxiety in patients with anxiety disorder [6]. While MS is a treatable condition today [7], the multitude of physical and psychological impairments that can arise throughout the course of the disease [3] may intensify awareness of and anxiety about death. Even though multiple sclerosis (MS) is a treatable condition today, it is still accompanied by a multitude of impairments, which in turn may intensify of death anxiety. Objective: The aim of this study is to explore the relationship between depression, anxiety and death anxiety in individuals with MS. Results: Scores of death anxiety towards it in MS patients were low. It was shown that both psychopathological and neurological deficits impact the subject of death with respect to multiple sclerosis
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