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Background: Although mind wandering (MW) is associated with various psychological aspects frequently affected in people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS), there is lack of validated tools to assess MW in this clinical population., Objective: This psychometric study aimed to assess structural and construct validity and reliability of a brief Italian version of Mind Wandering (MW) Scale that measures two different dimensions of MW, i.e., spontaneous (MW-S) and deliberate (MW-D)., Methods: Structural validity of the MW Scale was assessed by explorative factor analysis (EFA). To investigate construct validity, mood (Hospital Anxiety Depression Scale) and personality (10-items Big Five Inventory Test) were correlated with MW constructs. Reliability was assessed by Cronbach's α for internal consistency and intraclass correlation coefficients., Results: EFA confirmed two distinct constructs of MW, i.e., MW-S and MW-D, also in PwMS. This tool appropriately fits the graded response model, supporting validity (about 79% of hypotheses for convergent and discriminant constructs confirmed) and internal consistency (MW-S: Cronbach's α = 0.84; MW-D: Cronbach's α = 0.88)., Conclusion: MW Scale could be a useful tool to measure MW also in PwMS. As MW seems to be connected to clinical manifestations of MS, a detailed assessment of MW should be encouraged in clinical practice., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Since combining information from different domains could be useful to increase prediction accuracy over and above what can be achieved at the level of single category of markers, this study aimed to identify distinct and predominant subtypes, i.e., cognitive phenotypes, in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) considering both cognitive impairment and mood disorders., Methods: A latent class analysis (LCA) was applied on data from 872 PwMS who were tested with Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Furthermore, the distribution of demographic (i.e., age, gender, years of education) and clinical characteristics (i.e., disease duration, disease course, disability level) was examined amongst the identified phenotypes., Results: Based on model fit and parsimony criteria, LCA identified four cognitive phenotypes: 1) only memory difficulties (n = 247; 28.3%); 2) minor memory and language deficits with mood disorders (n = 185; 21.2%); 3) moderate memory, language and attention impairments (n = 164; 18.8%); 4) severe memory, language, attention, information processing and executive functions difficulties (n = 276; 31.7%)., Conclusions: Since less is known about the progressive deterioration of cognition in PwMS, a taxonomy of distinct subtypes that consider information from different clustered domains (i.e., cognition and mood) represents both a challenge and opportunity for an advanced understanding of cognitive impairments and development of tailored cognitive treatments in MS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) are common in individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS), and can have a significant impact on quality of life (QoL). Prevalence of LUTS in MS ranges from 32% to 96.8%, including storage or voiding symptoms or a combination of these. Post-void residual (PVR) is a very well-tolerated, non-invasive test for evaluating voiding dysfunction. The aim of the current study was to describe the distribution of PVR volumes across MS subjects with and without LUTS and to examine relationships between storage symptoms, voiding symptoms, and PVR., Methods: A large group of subjects (N = 501) completed a questionnaire on LUTS (current bladder management, number of urinary tract infections in the last year and urological investigations). A bladder ultrasound for PVR was performed and data were collected. We used Chi-Square and the Mann-Whitney non-parametric tests respectively for categorical and continuous variables in order to assess differences between symptomatic and asymptomatic groups. The differences of PVR by LUTS status were explored using the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test for independent samples., Results: Overall mean PVR was 132.4 mL (PVR>100 ml was considered an abnormal residual urine volume). Based on the LUTS questionnaire, 43 subjects (8.6%) were asymptomatic, while 458 subjects (91.4%) reported at least one LUTS. Storage-related symptoms were reported by 87.2% of subjects (437) and 65.1% (326) reported at least one voiding-related symptom. Two-third of subjects (66.5%) reported three or more LUTS. There was a statistically significant association between the presence of LUTS and the number of infections reported (p = 0.0015). The symptomatic group had significantly higher PVR than the asymptomatic group (p = 0.011). PVR significantly correlated with male gender, disability level and a progressive disease course., Conclusion: Results showed a high prevalence of LUTS in subjects with MS and that storage symptoms are predominant. There was an association between the presence of LUTS and a progressive disease course. The relationship between LUTS, higher PVR and the severity of disease course indicates that a comprehensive clinical evaluation should include an assessment of both neurological and micturition disorders and, importantly, PVR should be measured at every clinical assessment, despite the presence or absence of LUTS., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest All authors have nothing to disclose, (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background: Mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety, are frequent in people with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS). Although anxiety has a well-recognized negative influence on family, work and social life, it has received less attention than depression. Thus, it is still under debate which risk factors can predict anxiety, its evolution over time and the extent of its effect on disability progression., Objective: The aim of this retrospective study was to identify potential demographic, clinical and self-reported predictors that contribute to clinically significant anxiety at one-year follow up, measured by the anxiety subscale of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)., Methods: Data was acquired from a cohort of 608 subjects with MS, and included domains potentially meaningful for clinically significant anxiety. Associations between each variable and clinically significant anxiety at one-year follow-up were assessed with univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses., Results: Lower educational level, relapsing-remitting disease course, presence of clinically significant anxiety at baseline, higher depression and fatigue perception were significant predictors for clinically significant anxiety at one-year follow up., Conclusion: Findings confirm the importance of identifying risk factors for clinically significant anxiety in predicting prognosis and planning early intervention., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)