A 10-year follow-up of a population-based study of people with multiple sclerosis in Stockholm, Sweden: changes in disability and the value of different factors in predicting disability and mortality.
Most people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) experience progressively worsening disability over a period of decades, thus further knowledge about the long-term changes in different areas of disability is essential.
The aims of this study were to evaluate changes in disability over ten years in PwMS, and to explore the value of personal and disease-specific factors and depressive symptoms in predicting disability. A further aim was to explore the value of these factors as predictors of mortality.
This study was based on a 10-year follow-up of a population-based study in Stockholm (n=166). Home visits were used to collect data on personal and disease-specific factors, walking ability, manual dexterity, cognitive function, mood, activities of daily living (ADL) and social/lifestyle activities.
The proportion of the study population who had disability in cognition, mood and social/lifestyle activities remained stable, while the proportion with disability in walking, manual dexterity and ADL increased. Disease severity predicted an increase in all studied variables of disability except in depressive symptoms. Older age and depressive symptoms were associated with mortality.
This study illustrates the importance of tailored interventions for PwMS and highlights the need for health-care professionals to consider the psychological aspects of the disease. Furthermore, our results indicate that the Expanded Disability Status Scale was a useful tool for predicting future disability.
A 10-year follow-up of a population-based study of people with multiple sclerosis in Stockholm, Sweden: changes in health-related quality of life and the value of different factors in predicting health-related quality of life.
Health-related quality of life (HRQL) in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) is negatively affected compared to that of the general population. Cognitive impairment and depressive symptoms have been shown to predict worse HRQL in a short-term perspective. Considering the progressive nature of MS, it is essential to include the long-term (10 years) perspective of HRQL in PwMS.
The aim of this 10-year follow-up of a population-based sample of PwMS was to explore changes in and the predictive value of personal factors, degree of MS disability, depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment on HRQL.
Data on personal and disease-specific factors, mood, and cognitive function was collected. Data on HRQL was collected, seen as a health profile with the Sickness Impact Profile, as a health index with the EuroQol 5D and as a single global question with the EQ Visual Analog Scale.
HRQL worsened over 10 years according to the health profile (Sickness Impact Profile Total and its physical dimension) and according to the health index. The effect sizes were small. HRQL assessed with the single global question remained unchanged. Depressive symptoms and cognitive impairment predicted worse HRQL.
In a 10-year perspective the HRQL with regard to its physical domain or when seen as a total health profile tends to get worse in PwMS. Yet, HRQL with regard to its psychosocial domain and with regard to PwMS' self-rated health, remains stable. There is a potential for health-care professionals to decrease the impact of modifiable factors on HRQL in PwMS by identifying those with depressive symptoms and/or cognitive impairment and initiating evidence-based treatment as well as meeting the need for environmental facilitators aiming at reducing disability.
A 10-year population-based study of people with multiple sclerosis in Stockholm, Sweden: use of and satisfaction with care and the value of different factors in predicting use of care.
The national strategy for treatment of chronic diseases - including MS - and changes in the Swedish welfare system, call for analyses of the use of, and patient satisfaction with, care in a long-term perspective. The aim was therefore to explore the use of care and the predictive value of personal factors, disease-specific factors and functioning on the use of care and to explore patient satisfaction with care in a 10-year perspective.
Information regarding personal factors, disease-specific factors, functioning and satisfaction with care was collected by home-visits; use of care was collected from the Stockholm County Council computerised register.
Data from 121 people with MS (PwMS) was collected. Primary care accounted for the majority of all care. Neurology and Rehabilitation Departments together accounted for two-thirds of all hospital outpatient care. Rehabilitation Departments accounted for one-third of the total number of inpatient days. Lower coping capacity, impaired manual dexterity and activity of daily living dependency at baseline, together with progress in MS disability predicted a higher use of care. Overall, patient satisfaction with care was stable over time.
The extensive use of care offers challenges to care coordination. Implementation of person-centred care could be a strategy to increase efficacy/outcome of care.
Multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts the health-related quality of life (HRQL) in partners, but knowledge on the longitudinal perspective is needed. The aim was to analyse HRQL in partners of persons with MS living in Sweden a decade ago and after 10 years.
Partners were identified through a population-based study of persons with MS in Stockholm. Information on HRQL (the Sickness Impact profile), personal factors and disease-specific factors, and measures of functioning of persons with MS was collected at both time points mainly by home visits.
Some 64 of 102 identified partners (63%) agreed to participate at baseline, and at 10 years 40 of 54 eligible partners were included (74%). HRQL in partners was worse than in a Swedish, aged-grouped reference population at both baseline and follow-up. Depressive symptoms in persons with MS were independently associated with worse HRQL in partners.
Depressive symptoms in persons with MS were associated with worse HRQL in their partners, and HRQL of partners was continuously impacted in the longitudinal perspective. This knowledge needs to be accounted for in the planning of MS care, together with the development of evidence-based support for depressive symptoms, and engagement in recreational life in both partners and persons with MS.
Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Division of Physiotherapy, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. marie.kierkegaard@karolinska.se
Multiple sclerosis has a vast impact on health, but the relationship between walking, manual dexterity, cognition and activity/participation is unclear.
The specific aims were to explore the discriminative ability of measures of walking, manual dexterity and cognition, and to identify cut-off values in these measures, for prediction of independence in personal and instrumental activities of daily living (ADL) and activity/participation in social and lifestyle activities.
Data from 164 persons with multiple sclerosis were collected during home visits with the following measures: the 2 × 5 m walk test, the Nine-hole Peg Test, the Symbol Digit Modalities Test, the Katz Personal and Instrumental ADL Indexes, and the Frenchay Activities Index (measuring frequency in social and lifestyle activities).
The 2 × 5 m walk test and the Nine-hole Peg Test had high and better discriminative and predictive ability than the Symbol Digit Modalities Test. Cut-off values were identified. The accuracy of predictions was increased above all by combining the 2 × 5 m walk test and the Nine-hole Peg Test.
The proposed cut-off values in the 2 × 5 m walk test and the Nine-hole Peg Test may be used as indicators of functioning and to identify persons risking activity limitations and participation restrictions. However, further studies are needed to confirm the usefulness in clinical practice.
