title: The impact of disease characteristics on multiple sclerosis patients' quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The aim of this study was to assess the quality of life (QoL) of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), and to investigate the effects of characteristics of MS such as disease course, severity, and relapses on patients' QoL.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional study, in which 171 patients were enrolled. Health-related QoL was assessed using the Persian version of the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 questionnaire. To measure patients' disability status, we used the Expanded Disability Status Scale. Other variables included in the study were disease course and relapses of the disease.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average scores for patients' physical and mental QoL were 60.9±22.3 and 59.5±21.4, respectively. In a bivariate analysis, disease course, severity of the disease, and relapses were significantly associated with the physical and mental health composite scores. In a hierarchal regression analysis, disease course, severity of the disease, and relapses were responsible for 38 and 16% of the variance in physical and mental QoL, respectively. It was also observed that relapses were a strong predictor of both physical and mental QoL.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed that disease characteristics significantly affected both dimensions of QoL. It is therefore suggested that health care providers should be aware of these characteristics of MS to more successfully improve MS patients' QoL.
authors.affiliation: Health Management and Economics Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Health Economics, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Aziz
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5583-5561
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rezapour
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Economics, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abdollah
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6944-9023
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Almasian Kia
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Economics, School of Management and Information Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.|Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
authors.forename: Sahar
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-6389-3593
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Goodarzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Economics, School of Health Management and Information Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mojtaba
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0900-1590
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hasoumi
authors.affiliation: Public Health Department, School of Health and Nutrition, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Lorestan University of Medical Sciences, Khorramabad, Iran.
authors.forename: Soraya
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-4121-2205
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nouraei Motlagh
authors.affiliation: Student Research Committee, Zabol University of Medical Sciences, Zabol, Iran.
authors.forename: Sajad
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-5698-0699
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vahedi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D012008:Recurrence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Disease attributes; Iran; Multiple sclerosis; Quality of life