title: Predictors of health-related quality of life in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Knowledge of factors influencing health-related quality of life (HRQL) in people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is important because some factors might be amenable to intervention.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The aim was to describe and explore the effects of disease severity, fatigue, anxiety, depression, frequency of social and lifestyle activities, coping capacity and mechanical ventilator use on HRQL in people with ALS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty people with ALS were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Data were collected with questionnaires during home visits. The Sickness Impact Profile and the EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale were used to assess HRQL. Multivariate regression analyses explored associations between HRQL and independent factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low frequency of social and lifestyle activities, and severe disease, were associated with worse HRQL, explaining 57% of total variance in the Sickness Impact Profile physical score. Severe disease, weak coping capacity and anxiety and/or depression were associated with worse HRQL, explaining 33% of total variance in Sickness Impact Profile psychosocial score. Fatigue and mechanical ventilator use were associated with worse HRQL, explaining 17% of variance in the EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Knowledge and understanding of how frequency of social and lifestyle activities, disease severity, coping capacity, anxiety and/or depression, fatigue and ventilator use contribute to and predict self-rated HRQL can optimize person-centred care and support.
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: petter.sandstedt@ki.se.
authors: Petter
authors: P
authors: Sandstedt
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: sverker.johansson@ki.se.
authors: Sverker
authors: S
authors: Johansson
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: charlotte.ytterberg@ki.se.
authors: Charlotte
authors: C
authors: Ytterberg
authors: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Department of Neurology, Karolinska University Hospital, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: caroline.ingre@karolinska.se.
authors: Caroline
authors: C
authors: Ingre
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: lotta.holmqvist@ki.se.
authors: Lotta Widén
authors: LW
authors: Holmqvist
authors: Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet, Functional Area Occupational Therapy & Physiotherapy, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, SE-141 86 Stockholm, Sweden. Electronic address: marie.kierkegaard@ki.se.
authors: Marie
authors: M
authors: Kierkegaard
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000690:Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D001007:Anxiety; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression; D005221:Fatigue; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011788:Quality of Life; D012121:Respiration, Artificial; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Activity and participation; Coping; Fatigue; Health-related quality of life; Mechanical ventilation; Mood