title: Interaction of physical function, quality of life and depression in Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: characterization of a large patient cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Due to lack of any curative therapy for ALS, symptomatic treatment and maintenance of quality of life (QoL) is very important. We aimed to characterize the affected domains of QoL in ALS patients and to identify factors which are associated with reduced QoL and increased depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  159 ALS patients answered standardized questionnaires (Beck Depression Inventory-II, SF-36 Health Survey questionnaire, revised ALS functional rating scale). Multiple regression analysis was used to identify correlations between clinical features of ALS patients and depression/QoL scores. In addition, QoL data from ALS patients were compared to age-matched reference values representing the German normal population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  QoL of ALS patients was reduced in nearly all SF-36-categories. Progression of physical impairment was positively correlated with depression but reduced QoL scores only in items directly related to physical function. However, QoL was considerably influenced by depression, independently from physical impairment. Regarding distinct patient characteristics one of the most interesting findings was that increasing age was correlated with significantly worse QoL results regarding social functioning.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Depressive symptoms had a strong influence on QoL, hence their detection and treatment is of particular importance. Different domains of QoL are differently affected in subgroups of ALS patients. Being aware of these differences can be valuable for both ALS professional and family caregivers and physicians.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Koerner.Sonja@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Körner
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Kollewe.Katja@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kollewe
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Abdulla.Susanne@mh-hannover.de.|Department of Neurology, Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany. Abdulla.Susanne@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abdulla
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Statistics, University Göttingen, Göttingen, Germany. antonia.zapf@med.uni-goettingen.de.
authors.forename: Antonia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zapf
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Dengler.Reinhard@mh-hannover.de.|Center for Systems Neuroscience (ZSN), Hannover, Germany. Dengler.Reinhard@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Reinhard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dengler
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover, Carl-Neuberg-Str. 1, 30625, Hannover, Germany. Petri.Susanne@mh-hannover.de.|Center for Systems Neuroscience (ZSN), Hannover, Germany. Petri.Susanne@mh-hannover.de.
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Petri
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*