THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ATTENTION REHABILITATION IN DECREASING FOCUSED ATTENTION AND WORKING MEMORY DEFICITS ON MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS PATIENTS

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive central nervous system (CNS) disease. Cognitive impairment is a common concomitant of multiple sclerosis that affects various aspects of cognitive functioning including attention, and memory. Few studies investigated the efficacy of attention rehabilitation to decrease attention deficits in multiple sclerosis patients. The present study investigated the effectiveness of attention rehabilitation for decreasing focused attention and working memory deficits in multiple sclerosis patients. This single case study with A/B model followed six patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) who were selected with judgmental sampling. The studied variables focused on attention and working memory. The instruments used included Subtest Backward Wechsler Memory and Subtest Coding Wechsler Adults Intelligence Scale (WAIS), Multiple Sclerosis Neuropsychology Questioner, Beck Depression Inventory - II (BDI-II). The data were analyzed by visual analysis, Cohen's d and percentage of increases. From 6 cases, 5 cases significantly focused on high efficiency, one on moderate effectiveness of focused attention, three cases fairly on effectiveness, two subjects on probable effectiveness, and one on low working memory. These findings suggest that attention rehabilitation can decrease focused attention and working memory deficits in multiple sclerosis patients.