Assessing quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis

Purpose: The quality of life of multiple sclerosis (MS) patients was assess ed using two MS specific quality of life measures (FAMS and SF-54) and a sh ort generic measure (EuroQol) in order to make recommendations for routine assessment. Factors contributing to quality of life within this population were also considered. Method: Questionnaires were either sent by post or completed at interview. Ninety-six MS patients known to a consultant in rehabilitation medicine com pleted the questionnaires. Results: Patients scored very low on subscales related to physical health. Correlations were high between the FAMS and SF-54 but low with the EuroQoL. Stepwise multiple linear regressions showed mood measures to account for t he most variance on all quality of life composite scores. The MS patients w ithin the study had much lower SF-36 quality of life scores than the genera l population and other illness groups. Conclusions: The EuroQol did not measure the same aspects of quality of lif e as the FAMS and SF-54 and was not found to be a sensitive measure within this sample. The SF-54 suffered from floor effects on physical health subsc ales and therefore the FAMS was recommended.