AccScience Publishing / EJMO / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/EJMO025170146
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ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Impact of depression, functional status, and self-care level on quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

Ludmila Majerníková†* ,  Andrea Obročníková†
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1 Department of Nursing, Faculty of Health Care, University in Prešov, Prešov, Slovakia
†These authors contributed equally to this work.
EJMO, 025170146 https://doi.org/10.36922/EJMO025170146
Received: 24 April 2025 | Revised: 2 September 2025 | Accepted: 4 September 2025 | Published online: 15 October 2025
© 2025 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution -Noncommercial 4.0 International License (CC-by the license) ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ )
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Abstract

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the chronic demyelinating diseases of the nervous system that leads to a wide spectrum of clinical symptoms and significantly affects the quality of life (QoL).

Objective: This study evaluated the role of depression, functional status, level of self-care, and other socio-demographic and clinical factors in patients with MS.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 349 patients with MS. This study employed a questionnaire designed by the authors to capture socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, along with the following standardized instruments: the Activities of Daily Living questionnaire, the Expanded Disability Status Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, and the MS QoL Questionnaire-54.

Results: Using regression analysis, we found that the most important factors influencing physical QoL included age (p<0.01), occupation (p<0.01), and educational attainment (p<0.001). Among the clinical variables, the following were significantly associated with the QoL: functional ability (p<0.001), level of self-care (p<0.001), presence of depressive symptomatology (p<0.001), presence of relapses (p<0.001), and type of MS (p<0.001). The most important factors that were associated with psychological QoL included educational attainment (p<0.001), functional ability (p<0.001), level of self-care (p<0.05), presence of depressive symptomatology (p<0.001), presence of relapses (p<0.05), and progressive form of the disease (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Since the course of MS varies and is sometimes unpredictable, it is crucial to monitor the factors associated with the QoL of these patients and to conduct the necessary interventions to improve it.

Keywords
Multiple sclerosis
Depression
Functional status
Self-care
Quality of life
Funding
This study was conducted within the project KEGA- 015PU-4/2024 titled “Application of New Methods in Teaching of Future Health Professionals for Improving Self-management of Patients Towards Their Health.”
Conflict of interest
The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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Eurasian Journal of Medicine and Oncology, Electronic ISSN: 2587-196X Print ISSN: 2587-2400, Published by AccScience Publishing
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