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Background: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is lower in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) compared to the healthy population, psychological symptoms accompanying multiple sclerosis (MS) have a serious impact on the HRQoL of PwMS. Data regarding the subject, however, remain conflicting., Objectives: To evaluate the patients' sociodemographic attributes, education, fatigue, depression, and cognitive impairment level of impact on the HRQoL for the whole cohort as well as comparing the sexes., Materials and Methods: Three hundred and twenty-two relapse-remitting MS patients filled out the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), MS Quality of Life-54 (MSQoL-54) questionnaires, cognitive impairment were identified using Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) test. The patients' data were acquired from our clinic's MS registry or from patients' files., Results: Depression and fatigue were found to have the most ubiquitous and robust effect on the overall and any given subdivision of the HRQoL composite. Other factors had a slight effect on some of the subscales when the whole cohort was evaluated. When the genders were compared, differences were found on 10 domains., Conclusion: Psychopathological symptoms have a more powerful influence on the HRQoL of MS patients than physical impairment, also these symptoms influence men's and women's HRQoL with different power. This invokes the need for complex and personalized care in the treatment of PwMS. Ours is the first study to show a difference between the sexes in this regard., (© 2019 The Authors. Brain and Behavior published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Background: Multiple Sclerosis (MS) causes not only somatic, but also cognitive impairment regardless of the patients׳ age or the course of the disease. The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for MS (BICAMS) test, published in 2011, is a short cognitive questionnaire: a fast, reliable, sensitive and specific tool for the evaluation of the patients׳ cognitive state., Objectives: Our primary objective was to assess the validity of the Hungarian version of the BICAMS test. Our secondary objective was to evaluate the impact of the cognitive impairment on the patient׳s quality of life and fatigue׳s impact on the patients׳ cognitive state., Methods: 65 RR-MS patients and 65 age, sex and education matched healthy control (HC) subjects completed the test and were retested after 3 weeks. The patients also completed the MS Quality of Life 54 (MSQoL54) and the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) assessments. Group differences were calculated by paired sample T-tests. The test-retest reliability was measured by intraclass correlation coefficients. To analyze the difference between the test-retest performances of the two groups we used two-way repeated measures ANOVA where the BICAMS battery was the single composite outcome and one-way repeated measures ANOVA. To assess the impact of the cognitive decline on the patients׳ quality of life and fatigue׳s impact on the cognitive state, we examined the correlations between results in the BICAMS and the MSQoL54 and FIS., Results: We found significant difference (p ≤ 0.001, p = 0.017 in the first CVLT-II assessment) between MS patients and members of the HC group in all four evaluated parameters of BICAMS test in both sessions. The correlation coefficients were very strong between the tests and retests (r > 0.8; p < 0.001; r = 0.678, p < 0.001 between the CVLT-II assessments). We found that the HC group performed significantly (p = 0.020) better in the retest sessions as compared to their original performance than the patients did and this difference is solely due to the difference between the CVLT-II performances. We have found significant negative correlation between the patients׳ cognitive function and the fatigue score (r < -0.3, p < 0.05). Seven of the MSQoL-54 subscales correlated with the BICAMS performance (r > 0.3; < 0 .05)., Conclusions: The Hungarian version of the BICAMS test is a valid and reliable method for the evaluation of MS patients׳ cognitive function. It seems that because of the short retest period, the members of the HC group remembered the CVLT-II words thus performed better than the patients did. Also apparently fatigue can have a negative impact on the patients׳ cognitive state, and cognitive impairment could worsen the patients׳ quality of life., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: The 'Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Instrument' (MSQOL-54) was recently validated in Hungarian, on more than 400 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. The aim of the present study was to examine the impact on their overall quality of life (QoL) of the demographic and clinical data on these patients, and their scores on different QoL scales., Methods: The Hungarian version of MSQOL-54 was given to patients at the outpatient units at the Department of Neurology, University of Szeged, and two other Hungarian MS centres. Additional data, including the EDSS scores of the patients, and relevant clinical and demographic data, were also collected., Results: The questionnaire scales relating to social function, general health, mental health and satisfaction with the sexual function mostly determined the overall QoL ratings. 62.1% of the patients indicated at least one comorbid condition. Depressed patients had a significantly worse quality of life (p<0.0001)., Conclusions: MSQOL-54 is a useful tool for the recognition of possibly treatable factors influencing the QoL, but not assessed by the EDSS. Quality of life data have emerged on more than 400 patients, i.e. a considerable proportion of the Hungarian MS patient population., (Copyright 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Health-related quality of life measurements are gaining more importance in the study and clinical practice of multiple sclerosis. The aim of our study was the adaptation of the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Instrument (MSQOL-54) in Hungarian. The study was carried out at the Department of Neurology, University of Szeged and two other multiple sclerosis centers. The Hungarian translation of the questionnaire was given to patients at the outpatient units of the neurology departments. The EDSS score of the patients were determined and data concerning the onset and the clinical form of the disease was collected. Altogether 438 patients filled out the questionnaire. We enrolled patients with all clinical forms of the disease. Cronbach's alpha coefficients were over 0.8 in case of all scales except ;Rolelimitations - emotional' (0.794), indicating a good internal consistency reliability for group comparisons. The instrument was able to distinguish between known clinical group differences. The Hungarian version of the MSQOL-54 instrument shows good psychometric properties similar to the original questionnaire.