The effects of fatigue on balance and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

31st Congress of the European-Committee-for-Treatment-and-Research-in-Multiple-Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) -- OCT 07-10, 2015 -- Barcelona, SPAIN
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common autoimmune inflammatory disease in young adults and is charac¬terized by recurrent neurological deficits. Fatigue is a common symptom in persons with MS and may be related to balance problems and reduce health related quality of life (QoL). Objectives: The aim of this study is to determine fatigue level, balance problems and QoL in patients with MS, and also investigate the relationship between these parameters. Methods: Total 104 MS patients (78 female, 26 male) as 76 relapsing-remitting types and 28 progressive types were included in this study. Mean age was 41.25±9.52 years and mean Expanded Disability Status Scale score was 4.31±1.37. Patients were assessed by Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS) for fatigue level, Berg Balance Scale (BBS) for balance level and Multiple Sclerosis International Quality of Life (MusiQoL) for health related QoL. Results: FSS score was 40.14±8.75, BBS score was 38.03±10.99 and MusiQoL score was 63.53±13.70 in the patients. There was a significant correlation between fatigue level and QoL (r=-0.581 p=0.023), but there was not any correlation between fatigue level-balance (r=0,086 p=0.383) and balance-QoL (r=0.242p=0.384). Conclusion: This study demonstrated that health related QoL was affected from fatigue. Therefore, fatigue is one of the most important symptom in MS patients and required to focus on fatigue in the MS treatment.