TY - JOUR
T1 - Presence and significant determinants of cognitive impairment in a large sample of patients with Multiple Sclerosis
AU - Borghi, Martina
AU - Cavallo, Marco
AU - Carletto, Sara
AU - Ostacoli, Luca
AU - Zuffranieri, Marco
AU - Picci, Rocco Luigi
AU - Scavelli, Francesco
AU - Johnston, Harriet
AU - Furlan, Pier Maria
AU - Bertolotto, Antonio
AU - Malucchi, Simona
N1 - This work was supported by FISM - Fondazione Italiana Sclerosi Multipla (www.aism.it) - Cod. 2009/R/17.
PY - 2013/7/29
Y1 - 2013/7/29
N2 - Objectives: To investigate the presence and the nature of cognitive impairment in a large sample of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and to identify clinical and demographic determinants of cognitive impairment in MS. Methods: 303 patients with MS and 279 healthy controls were administered the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests (BRB-N); measures of pre-morbid verbal competence and neuropsychiatric measures were also administered. Results: Patients and healthy controls were matched for age, gender, education and pre-morbid verbal Intelligence Quotient. Patients presenting with cognitive impairment were 108/303 (35.6%). In the overall group of participants, the significant predictors of the most sensitive BRB-N scores were: presence of MS, age, education, and Vocabulary. The significant predictors when considering MS patients only were: course of MS, age, education, vocabulary, and depression. Using logistic regression analyses, significant determinants of the presence of cognitive impairment in relapsing-remitting MS patients were: duration of illness (OR = 1.053, 95% CI = 1.010-1.097, p = 0.015), Expanded Disability Status Scale score (OR = 1.247, 95% CI = 1.024-1.517, p = 0.028), and vocabulary (OR = 0.960, 95% CI = 0.936-0.984, p = 0.001), while in the smaller group of progressive MS patients these predictors did not play a significant role in determining the cognitive outcome. Conclusions: Our results corroborate the evidence about the presence and the nature of cognitive impairment in a large sample of patients with MS. Furthermore, our findings identify significant clinical and demographic determinants of cognitive impairment in a large sample of MS patients for the first time. Implications for further research and clinical practice were discussed.
AB - Objectives: To investigate the presence and the nature of cognitive impairment in a large sample of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS), and to identify clinical and demographic determinants of cognitive impairment in MS. Methods: 303 patients with MS and 279 healthy controls were administered the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological tests (BRB-N); measures of pre-morbid verbal competence and neuropsychiatric measures were also administered. Results: Patients and healthy controls were matched for age, gender, education and pre-morbid verbal Intelligence Quotient. Patients presenting with cognitive impairment were 108/303 (35.6%). In the overall group of participants, the significant predictors of the most sensitive BRB-N scores were: presence of MS, age, education, and Vocabulary. The significant predictors when considering MS patients only were: course of MS, age, education, vocabulary, and depression. Using logistic regression analyses, significant determinants of the presence of cognitive impairment in relapsing-remitting MS patients were: duration of illness (OR = 1.053, 95% CI = 1.010-1.097, p = 0.015), Expanded Disability Status Scale score (OR = 1.247, 95% CI = 1.024-1.517, p = 0.028), and vocabulary (OR = 0.960, 95% CI = 0.936-0.984, p = 0.001), while in the smaller group of progressive MS patients these predictors did not play a significant role in determining the cognitive outcome. Conclusions: Our results corroborate the evidence about the presence and the nature of cognitive impairment in a large sample of patients with MS. Furthermore, our findings identify significant clinical and demographic determinants of cognitive impairment in a large sample of MS patients for the first time. Implications for further research and clinical practice were discussed.
KW - Brief repeatable battery
KW - Scale
KW - Speed
KW - Population
KW - Relevance
KW - Deficits
KW - Memory
KW - MS
U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0069820
DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0069820
M3 - Article
SN - 1932-6203
VL - 8
JO - PLoS One
JF - PLoS One
IS - 7
M1 - e69820
ER -