Assessment of cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis based on MACFILMS method

Abstract

This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 115 patients with multiple sclerosis during 1397-98. Cognitive disorders were assessed in the above two groups. All of them were evaluated to evaluate cognitive disorder subtypes based on MACFILMS test. Then, the general cognitive impairment status and its subtypes were compared between the two groups of progressive and recurrent patients. After collecting the data, they entered the SPSS ver 21 software and using descriptive statistical methods, the prevalence of each of the cognitive disorders mentioned in the table of variables was reported in the progressive form of MS. Results: In this study, 115 patients diagnosed with multiple sclerosis were examined for cognitive problems. 80 (89.56%) of them were women. The mean age of participants was 34.17 9 9.73 years. 91 patients (79.1%) had relapsing-remitting form. The overall prevalence of cognitive impairment in the studied patients was 30.4%. The areas with the most impairment were auditory processing speed and working memory (34.8%) and episodic memory (auditory or verbal) and learning (26.1%). The highest percentage of cognitive disorders was obtained in patients with PPMS with 71.4%, patients with SPMS with 70.6% and patients with RRMS with 19.8%. Cognitive impairment was significantly associated with different types of MS. Also, the rate of cognitive impairment in patients with MS increased significantly with age, decreased level of education, and increased duration of the disease.