title: Decline of Neuropsychological Abilities in a Large Sample of Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Two-Year Longitudinal Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this longitudinal study, we monitored two large groups of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and healthy controls (HC) for 2 years, with the aim of comparing their neuropsychological profile over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three hundred and twenty-two patients with MS and 303 HC were administered the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests (BRB-N); neuropsychiatric measures were also administered. Two follow-ups were scheduled at 1 and 2 years, respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A linear mixed model (LMM) with random intercept was run by considering participants' performance on each test of the BRB-N at the three assessment points (baseline and follow-ups) as the within-subjects variable, and group (patients and controls) as the between-subjects factor. The interaction term was statistically significant for the tests: Symbol Digit Modalities test (SDMT) (p = 0.044), Paced Auditory Serial Addition test (PASAT) (p = 0.011) and Word List Generation (WLG) (p < 0.001), whereas for the PASAT-3 approached statistical significance (p = 0.05). In addition, a LMM with random intercept was also run by identifying three groups (controls, relapsing-remitting course of MS (i.e. RR-MS), and prog-MS). The interaction term was statistically significant for: PASAT-3 (p = 0.017), PASAT-2 (p = 0.0026), and WLG (p = 0.0022).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results corroborate on a very large scale evidence that the abilities tapped by the tasks SDMT, PASAT and WLG are particularly sensitive to MS, and further extend this issue by showing that these abilities are likely to be more sensitive than others to the progression of the disease, as compared to HC.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychosomatics Service, University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, University of Turin Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Borghi
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychosomatics Service, University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, University of Turin Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Carletto
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychosomatics Service, University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, University of Turin Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ostacoli
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology and Psychosomatics Service, University Hospital San Luigi Gonzaga, University of Turin Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Scavelli
authors.affiliation: SAMBA (SpAtial, Motor and Bodily Awareness) Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of TurinTurin, Italy; Neuroscience Institute of Turin (NIT), University of TurinTurin, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pia
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Rome Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pagani
authors.affiliation: Neurologia 2 - CRESM (Regional Reference Centre for Multiple Sclerosis), "San Luigi Gonzaga" Hospital Medical School Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bertolotto
authors.affiliation: Neurologia 2 - CRESM (Regional Reference Centre for Multiple Sclerosis), "San Luigi Gonzaga" Hospital Medical School Orbassano, Italy.
authors.forename: Simona
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malucchi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Sciences (DISSAL), Section of Biostatistics, University of Genoa Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Signori
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology, eCampus UniversityNovedrate, Italy; Department of Mental Health, Azienda Sanitaria Locale Torino 3Collegno, Italy.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cavallo
keywords: cognitive deficits; linear mixed models; longitudinal analysis; multiple sclerosis; neuropsychology