Relationship between stigma and symptom burden in patients with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Background & Objective: Patients with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) may experience discrimination and stigma. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between stigma and the symptom burden in PwMS. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted between June 2020 and September 2021 on MS patients enrolled in the neurology outpatient clinic of a university hospital in Turkiye. Multiple Sclerosis-Related Symptom Checklist and Neuroquality of Life (Neuro-QoL)-Stigma Scale were used to collect data. Results: The mean age of the 195 study patients was 37.5 (± 9.7) years and 67.2% were female. One-fourth of the patients (26.2%) had a primary education level, and the unemployment rate was 9.7%. The patients reported that their private life (issues such as getting married, having boyfriend/girlfriend or problems in marital life) was affected the most (23.6%) by MS. The mean stigma burden scale scores of the patients were 37.9 (± 18.2). It was found that the stigma score of the patients was not significantly related to age, gender, education, and employment (p> 0.05); but was worse in divorced/widowed patients (p = 0.039); and was worse in patients who reported that their work, school, and private life were affected due to MS (p <0.05). The regression analysis showed that neuropsychiatric (p<0.001), urinary (p<0.001) and sensory (p=0.029) symptoms contributed the most to stigma. Conclusions: A study on PwMS in Turkiye showed a mild level of stigma. The symptom burden of the patients correlated with the stigma level suggesting that effective symptom control may help reduce the stigma level of PwMS.

Relationship of personality traits with stigmatization, depression, and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

“…3,7 The negative correlation between stigmatization and extraversion in this study suggests that extraverted individuals feel less stigmatized. Considering that stigma increases depressive mood 42,43 and worsens quality of life 44 in MS patients, it can be said that personality traits have direct and indirect effects on psychosocial life. On the contrary to extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism each showed positive correlations with depression and stigmatization and negative correlations with quality of life.…”