Symptom clusters and quality of life in persons with multiple sclerosis across the lifespan

Purpose To describe symptom clusters based on severity of co-occurring symptoms among adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) by age groups and to further examine symptom clusters as a correlate of quality of life (QOL) by age groups. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled persons with MS between 2...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quality of life research 2021-04, Vol.30 (4), p.1061-1071
Main Authors: Silveira, Stephanie L., Cederberg, Katie L. J., Jeng, Brenda, Sikes, E. Morghen, Sandroff, Brian M., Jones, Catherine D., Motl, Robert W.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Age groups
Aged
Anxiety
CLINICAL AND POLICY APPLICATIONS
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Middle Aged
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple Sclerosis - diagnosis
Multiple Sclerosis - psychology
Public Health
Quality of life
Quality of Life - psychology
Quality of Life Research
Sociology
Young Adult
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Summary:Purpose To describe symptom clusters based on severity of co-occurring symptoms among adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) by age groups and to further examine symptom clusters as a correlate of quality of life (QOL) by age groups. Methods This cross-sectional study enrolled persons with MS between 20 and 79 years of age who completed measures of fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and QOL using the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey. Bivariate correlation and partial correlation analyses examined associations among symptoms, QOL, and MS characteristics. K-means cluster analyses determined symptom clusters among the full sample and pre-determined age groups (i.e., 20–39, 40–59, and 60–79). One-way ANOVAs examined differences in QOL among clusters for the overall sample and by age groups. Results Among the overall sample of 205 participants, symptoms were significantly correlated with QOL and three distinct clusters were identified and differentiated by the magnitude of symptom experience (i.e., mild, moderate, and severe). Results were consistent among young and middle-aged adults; however, among older adults two severe sleep problem clusters were identified that were distinguished by moderate versus severe fatigue, depression, and anxiety. ANOVAs among the overall sample indicated that the three symptom clusters varied significantly for both physical component scores, F (2, 202) = 12.03, p  
ISSN:0962-9343
1573-2649
DOI:10.1007/s11136-020-02689-x