Relative contribution of cognitive and physical disability components to quality of life in MS

Abstract

Background: Information on the relative influence of cognitive and physical impairment on the quality of life in multiple sclerosis is currently limited and no scientific consensus has been reached yet.

Objective: For this reason, we wanted to examine the relative contribution of cognitive and physical impairment measures comprised in the MSFC test on quality of life in MS.

Methods: In the National MS Center Melsbroek, patients regularly undergo MSFC and EQ5D measurements. We investigated the correlations between the EQ5D, EQVAS and the MSFC and EDSS scores by the use of ANOVA and multilinear models.

Results: We found a significant correlation between the EQVAS score and cognition in a univariate model. When including EDSS score and MSFC outcomes into the model, cognition was, however, excluded based on the Akaike Information Criterion. Cognition was, on the other hand, a significant predictor for the "Usual Activities" question of the EQ5D.

Conclusions: Although cognitive performance as measured on the PASAT-3s does not correlate with a patient's perceived quality of life in a multivariate model, it remains an important predictor for the patient's usual activities.

Keywords: Cognitive impairment; EQ5D; MSFC; Multiple sclerosis; Physical impairment; Quality of life.