The Relationship between Quality of Life and Social Support in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

Chronic diseases like Multiple Sclerosis are incurable but can be controlled. However, the patient is always exposed to stressful physical, psychological and social factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the quality of life and social support in Multiple Sclerosis patients and find the relationship between these two factors. This was a descriptive- analytic study done in the year1391. For this purpose, 100 qualified Multiple Sclerosis patients who referred to Shohaday Ashayer Hospital in Khoramabad were selected randomly. Data were collected using a questionnaire which included three sections of demographic, the quality of life, and social support characteristics. Then, data were analyzed by spss software. The findings revealed that the quality of life in 59.3% of cases and social support in 61% of cases were non- optimal and there was a direct, significant relationship between these two factors. Among the sub- branches of the quality of life, physical dimension was non- optimal in 80.9% of cases and psychological dimension was non- optimal in 71.5% of cases. Among the social support dimension, emotional support favored the highest percent (36.8%) and the structural sources of social support, group membership (p= 0.001, r = 0.27) and social network (p= 0.001, r = 0.29) had a direct, significant relationship with quality of life. Considering the fact that half of the patients suffered non- optimal physical and psychological quality of life, and more than half of the patients suffered from non- optimal social support functions, it is recommended that the authorities take decisions and plan in a way that improve the physical and psychological dimensions of patients and thus influence the enhancement of the patients’ qualities of lives.