Relation between Voiding Dysfunction and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis Patients.

Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease characterized by inflammation, demyelinating and eventual neurodegeneration in the central nervous system. This can result in a variety of symptoms that markedly affect the patient's quality of life (QoL). One common manifestation of MS is voiding dysfunction. Therefore, this study was carried out to study the impact of voiding dysfunction on the QoL among MS patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 60 patients recruited from MS Outpatient Clinic of Neurology department at Zagazig University Hospitals and El Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan Hospital, they were diagnosed as MS as per the 2017 Revised McDonald Diagnostic Criteria. We studied the relation between QoL and voiding dysfunction in MS patients using International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) as well as Multiple Sclerosis International Quality of Life (MusiQoL) scores. Results: Statistically significant differences were revealed between IPSS severity and all of activities of daily living (p=0.035), psychological wellbeing (p=0.007), symptoms (p=0.01), relation with friends (p=0.005), relation with family (p=0.037), coping (p=0.045) and MusiQoL index (p=0.004) (all were significantly lower in patients with moderate/severe IPSS score). Statistically significant negative correlations also were found between IPSS severity and all of psychological wellbeing (p=0.006), symptoms (p=0.011), relation with friends (p=0.025), relation with family (p=0.007), coping (p=0.014) and rejection (p=0.006), also highly significant negative correlations were revealed between IPSS severity with activities of daily living dimension score (p<0.001) and MusiQoL index (p=0.001). Conclusion: Various levels of severity of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) (mild, moderate and severe) were observed among MS patients, with mild LUTS being predominantly observed. Findings indicated that the severity of LUTS is closely linked with reductions in various QoL dimensions. Particularly, patients with moderate to severe LUTS reported significantly lower QoL scores, underscoring the profound impact of urinary dysfunction on their daily lives and overall well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]