Physical Health Status in Multiple Sclerosis Patients in Tehran City

Symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are unpredictable; they vary from person to person, and from time to time in the same individual. Research conducted in Iran, didn''t focus specifically on the health status of MS. Therefore, we undertook this study on physical health status in MS patients. This is a descriptive cross-sectional study on 119 MS patients, recruited through convenience sampling. Data were collected using the physical section of the «Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Inventory (MSQLI)», with 78 items and 0. 93 Cronbach''s coefficient that translated to Persian and adapted to Iranian culture by researchers. The physical health status was moderate in 49. 6%. The lowest mean score percent was for physical component 41. 06 (12. 9) and the highest mean score percent was for Impact of visual impairment 87. 05 (16. 1). Physical components indicated a significant positive correlation with fatigue impact, pain effect and bladder control. We found a significant positive correlation between fatigue impact with pain effects, sexual satisfaction, and bladder and bowel control. Moreover, significant positive correlations were found between pain effects with sexual satisfaction and bowel control; sexual satisfaction and bladder and bowel control; bladder control and bowel control. These findings may assist health care providers to identify patients at risk of aggravating physical health status; thus allowing appropriate and timely interventions to be conducted.