Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation 2011 , Vol 57 , Num 1

A Holistic Look at Patients With Multiple Sclerosis: Focusing on Social Life, Household and Employment Issues

Leyla Özdemir 1 ,Güler Duru Aşiret 1
1 Hacettepe Üniversitesi, Sağlık Bilimleri Fakültesi, Hemşirelik Anabilim Dalı, Ankara, Türkiye DOI : 10.4274/tftr.57.04

Objective: This study identifies the impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) on patients’ employment status, social and family life. Additionally, the purpose of the study was to explore the problems related to completing outdoor and indoor household tasks, the effect of disease on relatives, familial support perceived by patients, and the attitudes of relatives toward the disease.

 

Materials and Methods: A descriptive design utilizing a questionnaire developed by the researchers and comprised of open-ended and non-rated questions was used in the study. According to the sample size formula for given population size, 101 patients with MS were recruited from the neurology clinic.

 

Results: In comparison with pre-disease frequency, 71.3% of patients had a decreased social activity level. Even though 49.5% of patients reported to have a household problem, 94.1% perceived at least one kind of support from family members. The rates of difficulties in maintaining indoor and outdoor tasks were 35.6% and 40.6%, respectively.

 

Conclusion: Patients’ mean symptom number of symptoms negatively correlated with household issues, maintaining indoor and outdoor tasks, social activity level and employment status (p<0.05). Post-disease social activity level was associated with long duration of diagnosis, unemployment and transportation difficulties outside the home (p<0.05). 

Keywords : Multipl skleroz, sosyal etkileşim, ilişki, iş durumu, ev işleri