Relationships between Duration of Disease and Quality of Life in Women with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a progressive, demylinating, autoimmune disease, being more prevalent in women and often resulting in a compromised quality of life (QOL). Exercise may be an important therapeutic intervention for the progression of symptoms. It is important to establish baseline characteristics for QOL measures prior to prescribing exercise programs for MS patients. PURPOSE: To determine if duration of MS and the use of medication had any effects on quality of life (QOL) indices in women with MS. METHODS: Sixty-five women with relapsing MS (43.9±1.2 yrs of age) were split into three groups based on duration of disease: Group1 (n=48, 0.1-10 yrs); Group 2 (n=10, 10.1-20 yrs); and Group 3 (n=7, 20.1-33 yrs). All subjects were diagnosed by a single MS neurologist. Each subject, following informed consent, completed the MSQOL-54 questionnaire. This is a structured, self-report questionnaire that has two summary scores, physical health and mental health, and 12 subscales, including physical function, health perceptions, social function, pain, emotional well-being, and sexual function. Mean differences between groups were evaluated with ANOVA and relationships between groups and QOL were determined by Spearman's Rho correlation coefficients. RESULTS: There was a significant group difference in age (p<0.03), with G1 being significantly younger than G3. Correlation coefficients between duration of disease and QOL were generally weak and positive, with the strongest relationship being between health perception and duration (r=0.25; p<0.05). Of the 65 MS subjects, 6 were not taking medication. Women not taking medication scored significantly higher on physical function than those on medication (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: It appears that the duration of MS had no significant impact on QOL, although those who had the disease the longest had the best perception of their health, perhaps indicating that they had come to terms with the disease and its limitations.