Assessment of Fatigue, Pain, Disability and Quality of life for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Abstract

Background: Multiple sclerosis [MS] is a central nervous system inflammatory demyelinating disease that is the second most common cause of physical disability in young patients. which leads to impaired cognitive, motor and or sensory functions. The aim of this study was to assess of Fatigue, Pain, Disability and Quality of life for Patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Design: A descriptive research design was carried out. Setting: the study was conducted at Neurology outpatient clinic, at Zagazig University Hospitals .Sample: A purposive sample of 60 patients suffering from multiple sclerosis. Tools: five tools were used to collect the study data: I) a structured interview questionnaire. II) Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) III) Numeric Rating Scale.  IV) Patient-Determined Disease Steps (PDDS) V) Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS-29) Results: The current study shows that the mean age was 32.32 ± 8.1 years and 70.0 % of them were females, also, majority of studied patient had Unsatisfactory Knowledge and Unsatisfactory practice, in addition 80.0 %  were classified a severe fatigue based on FSS, more than three quarter of studied patient had pain, the mean of Physical impact and Psychological impact composite scores of the Quality of life and disability were 61.47±12.95, 31.38 ±5.74 and 3.46±1.71 respectively. Conclusion: There was a strong statistically significant positive correlation between fatigue and quality of life (physical impact) and disability, there is a significant correlation (P <.001) between the physical and Psychological scores of QOL Recommendation: developing an educational and therapeutic program, based on disease related and targeted exercise instruction that is aimed at improving fatigue and physical disability  and evaluate and compare the changes that occur after the functional rehabilitation program in patients with MS , Education at initiation of therapy and throughout the course of disease, management of patients’ expectations about treatment and optimal support could improve adherence and optimize outcomes.