[Quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis].
The main aim of the paper was to evaluate quality of life in SM patients and to establish its determinants. Participants in the study were 50 patients hospitalized at the Neurology Ward in Gostynin-Kruk and 100 patients undergoing 24-day rehabilitation in a sanatorium in Kowal. They were examined using the Functional Assessment of Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Questionnaire (FAMS) and a questionnaire concerning demographic data and the course of the disease, including the evaluation of motor disability level (EDSS, according to the Kurtzki scale). The group of patients at the Neurology Ward in Kruk consisted of 20 men and 30 women (mean age 35.8 years, mean duration of the disease 9.1 years). Their main source of income was paid employment (60%). In the Kowal sanatorium group there were 46 men and 54 women (mean age 44.6 years, mean duration of the disease 10.1 years). Their main source of income was disability pension (81%). In terms of the EDSS scale 56% of the Kruk patients represented the first level of motor disability (scores from 0.0 to 4.5), while 30% were classified as the second level (scores from 4.5 to 6.5). The proportions were reversed in the Kowal group: the second level (scores from 4.5 to 6.5) was represented by 57%, and the first level by 29% of the patients. Their quality of life (QoL) assessed by means of the FAMS scale was poor in 52% of cases and satisfactory in 48% of cases in the Kruk group, while in the Kowal group 35% of patients assessed their QoL as poor, and 59%--as satisfactory. The SM patients' quality of life was determined mainly by the degree of their motor self-dependence.
Katedry Profilaktyki Zdrowotnej Wydział Nauk o Zdrowiu Akademii Medycznej im. Karola Marcinkowskiego w Poznaniu.
Dorota
D
Talarska
Elzbieta
E
Brzozowska
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006294:Health Resorts; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D011788:Quality of Life; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires