Prevalence, severity of pain in patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

Abstract

The importance of background information in several studies has been emphasized and since controlling and early treatment of the disease, prevention and finding ways to control the intensity of the disease and thus faster rehabilitation of patients are necessary, in this paper, symptoms, severity and type of pain will be discussed. This descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 200 patients with MS who referred to Ayatollah-Kashani Hospital in Isfahan 2015. Data gathering tool was a questionnaire 3section including of personal / disease characteristics, McGill Pain Questionnaire, Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and Pain Rating Index(PRI). Pearson and Spearman statistical tests, independent t-test, and Chi-square were carried out using SPSS version16 to analyze the data. 57.5 of the subjects have experienced pain and 42.5 did not report pain. Based on VAS and PPI, mean of pain severity were 5.5 (2.9) and 2.3 (1.5), respectively. The lowest prevalence of different types of pain belonged to sharp pain (95.7) and also deadly pain and pain similar to tissue rupture (93.9). The prevalence of pain is high and severity is moderate in MS patients. So attention to treatment and psychological consult may be effective this patient by health care personnel.