Pain, quality of life, and religiosity in people with multiple sclerosis

Purpose To investigate in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, the relationship between pain and religiosity and to determine whether distinct dimensions of religiosity were associated with quality of life. Methods MS patients during clinical follow-up filled out the visual analogue scale for pain (VAS...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neurological sciences 2022-05, Vol.43 (5), p.3247-3254
Main Authors: Sparaco, Maddalena, Miele, Giuseppina, Abbadessa, Gianmarco, Ippolito, Domenico, Trojsi, Francesca, Lavorgna, Luigi, Bonavita, Simona
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Functional morphology
Humans
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis - complications
Multiple Sclerosis - psychology
Neural networks
Neurology
Neuroradiology
Neurosciences
Neurosurgery
Original Article
Pain
Pain - etiology
Pain - psychology
Pain perception
Patients
Psychiatry
Quality of life
Quality of Life - psychology
Religion
Spirituality
Structure-function relationships
Surveys and Questionnaires
Visual pathways
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Summary:Purpose To investigate in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, the relationship between pain and religiosity and to determine whether distinct dimensions of religiosity were associated with quality of life. Methods MS patients during clinical follow-up filled out the visual analogue scale for pain (VAS), the Mc Gill questionnaire (McGQ), the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), and the religious attitude scale (RAS), and expanded disability status scale (EDSS) was assessed. Results Ninety-two MS patients were enrolled, only two declined. There was a negative correlation between religious practice and faith and some domains of the SF-36 and a positive correlation between sensory, affective, and evaluative aspects of pain (at McGQ) and religious practices, and between evaluative aspects of pain (at McGQ) and faith. EDSS was significantly higher in practitioner believers compared to not practitioners. Conclusions More disabled MS patients, with worse quality of life, also due to physical pain, find a source of comfort in faith and religious practices. Pain is not relieved by prayer; therefore, we may guess that in MS the poor beneficial effect of religiosity and practice on pain perception may be linked to a structural/functional damage of neural circuits involved in reducing pain during prayer.
ISSN:1590-1874
1590-3478
DOI:10.1007/s10072-021-05759-1