Comparison of Psychological Symptoms in Multiple Sclerosis Patients and Normal People

MS disease has a chronic and progressive nature and affects various aspects of a person's life, and results in psychological problems and poor quality of life in patients. Considering the importance of this issue, this study aimed to investigate the psychological symptoms in MS patients compared with the control group.

This is a causal-comparative study in patients with MS and healthy individuals in Guilan province. In this study, 120 MS patients and 120 healthy people participated in this study. To collect the data, the Symptom CheckList-90- Revised (SCL-90-R) was used. Data were analyzed by using SPSS v.22 software and Mann–Whitney U test.

A survey of cut-off points for GSI showed that 68 (56.66%) of MS patients and 23 (19.16%) of healthy people were suspected of psychological disorders. The results of psychological disorder symptoms indicate that the mean score of the somatization (U=4798, Z=-4.471, p<0.001), obsessive–compulsive disorder (U=4450.500, Z=-5.118, p<0.001), interpersonal sensitivity (U=4572.500, Z=-4.893, p<0.001), Depression (U= 4775.500, Z=-4.513, p<0.001), anxiety (U=4360.500, Z=-5.219, p<0.001), hostility (U=4411.500, Z=-5.204, p<0.001), phobia (U=5099.500, Z=-3.945, p<0.001), paranoia (U=5375, Z=-3.401, p<0.001), pychoticism (U=4154.500, Z=-5.689, p<0.001) mean score of GSI  (U=419, Z=-5.597, p<0.001) in MS patients were significantly more than healthy people.

Overall, the results showed that the psychological symptom was more common in people with MS than normal people. By considering this fact, the psychological issues have an effective role in the treatment of these individuals, however the recommendation is screening and psychosocial interventions based on the psychological symptom of these patients.