Feelings of depression, pain and walking difficulties have the largest impact on the quality of life of people with multiple sclerosis, irrespective of clinical phenotype.
BACKGROUND
The symptoms that have the largest impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) may vary by MS phenotype (relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS), secondary progressive MS (SPMS) and primary progressive MS (PPMS)). Knowing these symptoms assists in symptom management.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the associations between 13 common MS symptoms and HRQoL in the total sample and stratified by MS phenotype.


METHOD
The study included 1985 participants. HRQoL was measured with two multi-attribute utility instruments: assessment of quality of life with eight dimensions (AQoL-8D) and European quality of life with five dimensions and five levels for each dimension (EQ-5D-5L). Multivariable linear regression was used to identify the symptoms that had the largest impact on the HRQoLs.


RESULTS
Feelings of depression, pain, fatigue, and feelings of anxiety were most strongly associated with AQoL-8D and EQ-5D-5L. Walking difficulties additionally contributed to reduced EQ-5D-5L. The strongest single predictors in the multivariable analyses were feelings of depression or pain for AQoL-8D and walking difficulties for EQ-5D-5L, irrespective of MS phenotype.


CONCLUSION
The strongest single predictors for the AQoL-8D and EQ-5D-5L were feelings of depression, pain and walking difficulties, irrespective of MS phenotype. Reducing these symptoms may have the largest impact on improving HRQoL in all MS phenotypes of people with MS.
['Zhang|Yan|Y|', 'Taylor|Bruce V|BV|', 'Simpson|Steve|S|', 'Blizzard|Leigh|L|', 'Campbell|Julie A|JA|', 'Palmer|Andrew J|AJ|', 'van der Mei|Ingrid|I|']
D001007:Anxiety D003863:Depression D006801:Humans D009103:Multiple Sclerosis D010146:Pain D010641:Phenotype D011788:Quality of Life D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires D016138:Walking
depression pain walking difficulties Multiple sclerosis symptoms health-related quality of life assessment of quality of life with eight dimensions European quality of life with five dimensions and five levels for each dimension