The Influence of Mixed Anxiety-Depressive Disorder on the Perceived Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Abstract

The subjective perception of the quality of life of patients with chronic impairment depends on many influences coming from both mental and physical variables. The patient needs to adapt to new contexts such as loss of social roles, changes in future plans, insecurity, and self-esteem impairment. The aim of this study was to highlight the influence of mental variables on the perception of life quality in patients with multiple sclerosis. In order to acquire the data, we applied the following instruments: The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (S.T.A.I.), Beck Depression Inventory (B.D.I.), Eysenck's Personality Inventory (E.P.I.), The Medical Outcomes Study 36-Items Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and The Mini-Mental State Examination (M.M.S.E.). The research was performed on a group of 60 patients, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. Subjects were informed that participation in the study required filling out the test forms (depression, anxiety, emotional stability, cognition, and life quality inventories) and was evaluated individually. The data were statistically analyzed. The study revealed that the mental dimension of the life quality perception could be estimated by a model including depression and anxiety state cumulated with extraversion and emotional stability, the latter two having a weaker power of prediction. Cognitive variables (orientation, attention, focus, memory, and language) didn't prove their prediction significance on the perceived quality of life. The study confirmed partially the hypothesis. The small study group and the medium level of disability did not allow us to generalize our conclusions, but the research opened up the perspective for further investigations.