BackgroundThe main objectives of this study were to assess quality of life (QoL), consumption patterns of dietary supplements, as well as physical/mental health status in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). The present study also aimed to determine the association between demographic characteristics and physical as well as mental health composite (PHC and MHC) scores using the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQoL-54) questionnaire.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted on a group of patients with MS (n=382) referring to Shahid Kazemi Pharmacy, based in the city of Tehran, Iran, as a national pharmacy providing specialized pharmaceutical care to these individuals from February 2019 to March 2020 via the implementation of the MSQoL-54 questionnaire. ResultsA total number of 382 patients with MS participated in this study, including 89 (23.3%) men and 293 (76.7%) women, aged 40±10.9 years old (range: 18-84 years old). The overall score of the MSQoL-54 questionnaire was also by 41.58, and that was 69.60 and 62.99 from 100 for PHC and MHC, respectively. Conclusions The study results demonstrated that advanced age, longer disease duration, and lower levels of education were significantly associated with lower QoL. Trial registration IR.SBMU.PHARMACY.REC.1398.240.
Background Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disease and is one of the most costly medical conditions that imposed families with catastrophic health expenditures. There is an increasing trend in using alternative medicines including, dietary supplements, herbs, vitamins, and minerals. To date, the association between dietary as well as herbal supplements and QoL in MS patients is under researched; thus, this study aimed to assess the association between the self-reported supplement used and QoL between MS patients. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients with MS referring to Shahid Kazemi Pharmacy, based in the city of Tehran, Iran, as a national pharmacy providing specialized pharmaceutical products and pharmaceutical care to patients. The Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQoL-54) tools was performed to evaluate MS patients QoL. Results A total number of 382 patients with MS participated in this study. They include 89 (23.3%) men and 293 (76.7%) women, aged 40 ± 10.9 years old. The overall score of the MSQoL-54 questionnaire was 41.58 out of 100. Physical health composite (PHC) and mental health composite (MHC) were 69.60 and 62.99 from 100, respectively. This study revealed that 76.4% of patients used at least one vitamin daily; 92.4% of patients do not receive any herbal product. Vitamin D is the most widely used supplement, followed by calcium, while vitamin C is the least consumed. No correlation was observed regarding supplement use and overall QoL, PHC, or MHC. There were no significant differences between QoL’s dimensions score in patients who used supplements. The results showed that increasing the number of supplements used did not relate to overall QoL, PHC, or MHC. In addition, there was not any correlation between the duration used of supplements and QoL’s dimensions score in MS patients (p-value> 0.05). Conclusions The dietary supplement appears to be popular among MS patients. The study results showed that the number of supplementations and their long-term use in patients with MS were not associated with higher QoL. Similarly, the herbal supplements have failed to improve QoL.
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