Quality of life and its correlates in adolescent multiple sclerosis patients

Introduction: Measures of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) are considered to be more comprehensive in health outcome assessments than scales assessing only the degree of neurological deficit.

Objective: The aim of the study was to evaluate HRQOL and its correlates among adolescents with multiple sclerosis (MS) in Serbia.

Methods: Demographic, clinical, and patient-reported outcome data were collected for 21 adolescents with MS, aged 14-18 years. The KIDSCREEN measure was used for HRQOL assessment. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were identified by the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale (RCADS), while fatigue was assessed by the Paediatric - Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (PedsFACIT-F).

Results: Compared to the national data for healthy adolescents, the scores for a domain assessing physical well-being were significantly lower among adolescents with MS. Five (23.8%) adolescents had the RCADS scores within the clinical range. The age of the disease onset significantly correlated with the social and school domain. Neurological impairment correlated negatively with self-perception, school environment, and social acceptance domain. Fatigue significantly correlated with physical and psychological domains. The RCADS scores and the disease duration correlated negatively with the majority of the KIDSCREEN scores.

Conclusion: In adolescents with MS physical HRQOL domain is most likely to be compromised, whilst functioning and well-being in other domains are relatively preserved. Severity of the disease, its duration, and fatigue, with increased anxiety and depressive symptoms, are significant HRQOL correlates.