Health-Related Quality of Life in People with Multiple Sclerosis Undergoing Inpatient Rehabilitation

Abstract

This prospective study investigated the health-related quality of life of 50 people with progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) admitted for a program of inpatient neurorehabil itation. It piloted the use of the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) Questionnaire as a measure of quality of life in this patient group. Assessments of disease severity (Kurtzke's Functional Systems and Expanded Disability Status Scale), level of disability (Functional Independence Measure), and completion of the self-administered SF-36 and General Health Questionnaire were used for the evaluation. The results demon strated that people with MS admitted for rehabilitation have a low health-related qual ity of life, particularly in the dimensions of physical functioning and role function ing. The SF-36 was useful for citing our sample population within the context of the general population and condition specific groups. It demonstrated marked floor effects in a number of dimensions in this group of moderate to severely physically disabled patients. Results suggest that additional information from other scales, proven to be responsive to clinically significant change, is necessary in the evaluation of health care interventions for this population. Key Words: Quality of life—Multiple sclerosis— Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36)

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