Article
Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With More Negative Functional Outcomes Than Anxiety Symptoms in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis
The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences
(2019)
Abstract
Depression and anxiety are common among persons with multiple sclerosis (MS), and both negatively affect functional status. However, studies rarely account for overlap in de- pressive and anxiety symptoms on functional outcomes among people with MS. The authors aimed to examine the differential impact of depression and anxiety, measured by the Anxiety and Depression subscales of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-A and HADS-D), on functional outcomes among people with MS. Using a retrospective chart review of 128 people with MS, the authors used ex- ploratory structural equation modeling to examine the re- lation of HADS-A and HADS-D to functional outcomes, namely employment status, fatigue (with the Fatigue Severity Scale), disability (with the Expanded Disability Status Scale [EDSS]), and cognition (with the Symbol Digit Modalities Test [SDMT]). After the authors controlled for the effects of covariates, HADS-A was negatively associated with EDSS (b=–0.22, p,0.05) and positively associated with vocation (b=0.23, p,0.05). In contrast, HADS-D was positively cor- related with fatigue (b=0.37, p,0.05) and EDSS (b=0.26, p,0.05) and negatively correlated with vocation (b=–0.32, p,0.05) and SDMT (b=–0.28, p,0.05). HADS-A and HADS-D explained 5% of the variability in employment, 14.5% in fatigue, 1.6% in EDSS, and 4.3% in SDMT, beyond the effects of the covariates. Depressive symptoms have a significant negative impact on functional outcomes among people with MS, relative to anxiety symptoms. These find- ings support the importance of identifying and treating de- pressive symptoms among people with MS.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2019
Citation Information
Jonathan Bruce Santo. "Depressive Symptoms Are Associated With More Negative Functional Outcomes Than Anxiety Symptoms in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis" The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences (2019) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/jonathan_santo/75/