Severity of biomedical variables associated with the course of multiple sclerosis and levels of mental resiliency

Abstract

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is a progressive, demyelinating illness of the central nervous system, which may lead to significant disability. Mental resiliency is a personal resource, which makes it easier to cope with difficult situations such as incurable chronic illness. Aim of the study was to verify the relationship between the level of disability, biomedical variables and resiliency in patients with multiple sclerosis. Material and methods: The Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), Guy's Neurological Disability Scale (GNDS), and the Resiliency Assessment Scale (SPP- 25) were used in the presented study, in order to verify the relationship between neurological disability and resiliency. A total of 117 individuals diagnosed with multiple sclerosis took part in this study. Results: Resiliency was not significantly related with illness duration, age of diagnosis or motor disability measured by EDSS. However, selected resiliency subscales were associated with some neurological disability levels measured using GNDS. Of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis, the strongest relationship was observed between resiliency and mood disorders. In the present study there were no statistically significant differences in the resiliency levels between patients with different forms of multiple sclerosis. Conclusions: Both the disability itself and most of the symptoms of multiple sclerosis were not related to the level of mental resiliency. The exceptions are mood disorders, which explain only a small percentage of the variance in the case of one resiliency subscale.