Last update:
05-Dec-2022

OBJECTIVE Τo investigate the relationship between sleep quality and healthrelated quality of life (HRQoL) among community-based Greek patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

METHOD A cross-sectional study was conducted with 97 patients with MS, between March and June, 2019. The patients completed a questionnaire covering their demographic and clinical data, and the Greek versions of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life (MSQOL-54) questionnaires. The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) was retrieved from the hospital records.

RESULTS The majority of participants were women (68%) and their mean age was 41.8±11 years. Their mean score on the EDSS was 3.4±1.78, and on the MSQOL-54, the Physical Health composite score (PCS) 47.88±17.59 and the Mental Health composite score (MCS) 58.74±22.68. A Global Sleep Quality Score of >5, indicating poor sleep quality, was recorded in 83 (85.6%) of patients. Only the PCS was negatively associated with the Global Sleep Quality Score (p<0.001). Other factors that negatively affected quality of sleep were female gender (β=-1.562, p=0.013), increasing age (β=0.056, p=0.045) and unemployment (β=-1.171, p=0.048). The EDSS score was a prognostic factor for the physical aspect of HRQoL (p<0.001), and the physical and the mental aspects of HRQoL were correlated with each other (p<0>001).

CONCLUSIONS There is a strong interaction between quality of sleep and the physical and mental dimensions of HRQoL in patients with MS. Frequent assessment of sleep quality in this group of patients will contribute to improvement in this aspect of their lives. Systematic evaluation of the HRQoL and the quality of sleep of communitybased patients with MS should be a tertiary prevention priority in community care at all stages of the disease.

Key words: Greek patients, Health-related quality of life, Multiple sclerosis, Sleep.