Physical Activity, Resilience, Sense of Coherence and Coping in People with Multiple Sclerosis in the Situation Derived from COVID-19

Abstract

The confinement forced by COVID-19 can have repercussions on the health of people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. The objective of this study is to analyze the relationships between physical activity, a sense of coherence, resilience and coping among people diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis during the health emergency situation. To achieve this goal, this transversal descriptive study included 84 patients that belonged to multiple sclerosis associations during the period of confinement. Participants filled out the Physical Activity (IPAQ-SF), Sense of Coherence (SOC-13), Resilience Scale (ER-14) and coping (COPE-28) questionnaires. The results showed that the average age was 46.9 and that 67.9% had Relapsing Remittent Multiple Sclerosis diagnosed on average 13.9 years ago. They had a high degree (33.3%) and moderate degree (34.5%) of physical activity, high levels of resilience, while the level of a sense of coherence was average and the most commonly used strategies for coping were active confrontation and religion. Physical activity was not related to the rest of the studied variables, but there were correlations between the other variables. The people with multiple sclerosis who belong to patient associations have remained physically active during the obligatory confinement period and have elevated degrees of resilience and an average sense of coherence, as well as using suitable coping strategies, which is why the social-health resource of belonging to a patient association could be boosting these variables that are beneficial to their health.

Insights for Fostering Resilience in Young Adults With Multiple Sclerosis in the Aftermath of the COVID-19 Emergency: An Italian Survey

“…Overall, looking to the variety of coping strategies, the most frequent strategies evaluated as useful in patients' eyes were social support, hobbies, and keeping oneself busy. Results are quite different from what was observed in a previous study where active coping and religion were the strategies most frequently adopted in order to face COVID-19 ( 31 ). Conversely, the relevance of those coping strategies, which emerged in our study, was consistent with other results reported during the COVID-19 pandemic and, more in general, in the chronic disease field, as discussed in the section below.…”

The comparison of fatigue, sleep quality, physical activity, quality of life, and psychological status in multiple sclerosis patients with or without COVID-19

“…This mean value was found to be 2331.3 ± 3811.9 MET minutes per week in our sample. On the other hand, COVID-19 positive cases were reported to be 1140.8 ± 1428.2 min per week which is almost half the value of negative cases ( Reguera-García et al., 2020 ). These numerical values reveal how much the physical activity levels of COVID-19 positive individuals are highly affected.…”

Burden of COVID-19 Pandemic Perceived by Polish Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

“…The Brief-COPE results showed that the respondents to our survey overall preferred problem-focused coping, with planning, active coping and positive reframing as the most frequently used strategies. In another study, Spanish MS patients, surveyed during the pandemic, favored active confrontation and religion, while their use of emotional support, humor and positive re-evaluation was less frequent than in healthy controls [ 4 ]. The Italian survey [ 13 ] also indicated preference for positive attitude, problem solving and turning to religion among MS patients.…”

“…Disability and immunocompromised status due to disease-modifying treatment (DMT) were initially considered as predisposing factors for severe course to various forms of therapy and rehabilitation [ 1 , 2 ]. Furthermore, cognitive and mental health problems which often occur in MS population, together with insufficient coping abilities, would make these patients more vulnerable to distress caused by the pandemic [ 3 , 4 ].…”