Health-related quality of life for patients with progressive multiple sclerosis: influence of rehabilitation.
OBJECTIVE
The health-related quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) is an important aspect of care outcome. The purpose of this study was to compare health-related quality of life between patients who received weekly comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation for 1 year and a group that did not receive rehabilitation.


METHODS
Twelve patients receiving outpatient care for chronic progressive MS (mean age = 44.5 years, SD = 11.6) were compared with 19 similar patients (mean age = 49.2 years, SD = 9.2) on a waiting list who were not receiving outpatient care.


METHODS
A pretest-posttest longitudinal design was used to descriptively compare outcome measures. Multivariate regression analyses were used to determine which variables, controlled for baseline health status and other relevant patient characteristics, were related to the best outcomes at the time of the 1-year follow-up.


RESULTS
The treatment group showed improvements in six health status measures on the Rand 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 (SF-36) that were not improved in the wait-listed group. Outpatient treatment was the sole predictor of positive outcome for energy/fatigue (partial R2 = .43) and change in general health (partial R2 = .19). In addition, the treatment group was associated with a positive outcome (together with other independent variables) in the domains of social function and social support.


CONCLUSIONS
Patients with chronic progressive forms of MS appear to derive benefits from an ongoing comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation program. [Di Fabio RP, Choi T, Soderberg J, Hansen CR. Health-related quality of life for patients with progressive multiple sclerosis: influence of rehabilitation.
Di Fabio
R P
RP
Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455, USA. difab001@maroon.tc.umn.edu
Choi
T
T
Soderberg
J
J
Hansen
C R
CR
D000328:Adult; D000553:Ambulatory Care; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D011788:Quality of Life; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014850:Waiting Lists