Psychological status of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis during coronavirus disease-2019 outbreak.

Autor: Stojanov A; Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center Nis, dr Zoran Djindjic Boulevard, 18000 Nis, Serbia. Electronic address: astojanov1986@gmail.com., Malobabic M; Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center Nis, dr Zoran Djindjic Boulevard, 18000 Nis, Serbia., Milosevic V; Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center Nis, dr Zoran Djindjic Boulevard, 18000 Nis, Serbia., Stojanov J; Special psychiatric hospital 'Gornja Toponica', Nis, Serbia., Vojinovic S; Clinic of Neurology, Clinical Center Nis, dr Zoran Djindjic Boulevard, 18000 Nis, Serbia; Medical Faculty, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia., Stanojevic G; Medical Faculty, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia., Stevic M; Medical Faculty, University of Nis, Nis, Serbia.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Multiple sclerosis and related disorders [Mult Scler Relat Disord] 2020 Oct; Vol. 45, pp. 102407. Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Jul 16.
DOI: 10.1016/j.msard.2020.102407
Abstrakt: Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a global health emergency. The aim was to investigate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological status of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
Methods: Data on the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of 95 RRMS patients were collected. We used a self-designed questionnaire, the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 Instrument (MSQOL-54), Hamilton scales for the assessment of anxiety (HAM-A), and depression (HAM-D). Patients who were tested one year ago were reassessed using the same questionnaires during the COVID-19 outbreak. Group of 99 healthy individuals (HC) were tested, using the same questionnaires.
Results: The main concerns in RRMS patients were that someone that they know could be infected with COVID-19 (78.5%), or could die due to the infection (33.8%), and the lack of specific treatment options (25.8%). The main concerns about the RRMS status were that their disease would be worse if they get infected with COVID-19 (36.4%), that they would experience some difficulties in drug availability (43.6%), that they could not go to the hospital as usual (72.4%). Results on all questionnaires were worse in RRMS patients than in HC (p<0.01). We noticed a statistically significant difference between the results obtained a year ago and the results from April 2020 in HAM-A (p<0.05).
Conclusions: There is an impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the psychological status of RRMS patients. Healthcare organizations need to provide professional therapeutic advice and psychosocial support for this population of patients during the pandemic.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The research in this manuscript has not been funded by any sponsor so there is no conflict of interest of any kind. There is no funding source.
(Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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