A review about the impact of multiple sclerosis on health-related quality of life

Abstract

Purpose: There is increasing recognition that the global wellbeing of patients with chronic neurological disease is animportant outcome in research and clinical practice alike.Many studies involving individuals with multiple sclerosis have demonstrated that the overall wellbeing is not a simplemanifestation of impairment or disability. The strongest correlations with health-related quality of life appear to bepatient rated emotional adjustment to illness and patient rated handicap. In recent years, health-related quality of lifequestionnaires that measure the physical, social, emotional,and occupational impact of illness have been developed and validated in populations with MS. Most questionnaires are now available in a range of languages. This development islikely to lead to increasing recognition of neuropsychiatric complications of MS in clinical practice and better quanti®ca-tion of treatment responses in clinical trials.Conclusion: Further work is required to decide which scale is most suited to which purpose. Assessment of multiplesclerosis-speci®c health-related quality of life should be included in future clinical trials to provide a complete pictureof patients' health status