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Depression, disability and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: a cross sectional Italian study

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Abstract

The disability, cognitive impairment, fatigue and depression are interacting features in multiple sclerosis (MS), whose relation is still unclear. The objective of this study was to evaluate in a sample of MS patients, the frequency of depressive symptoms, its predicting factors and relation with cognitive impairment, fatigue and disability. 255 consecutive MS patients and 166 healthy subjects were assessed for the presence of depressive symptoms with the Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (BDI-FS). Patients with BDI-FS ≥4 were further investigated for the presence of neuropsychological impairment. Depressive symptoms were significantly more frequent and severe in patients than in controls. EDSS score was the only predicting factor of depression (3.5 = threshold EDSS score for depressive symptoms) in patients, whereas neuropsychological impairment was not correlated with BDI-FS and fatigue was found to be significantly correlated with attention, executive function and memory test scores, as well as with BDI-FS score in patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Neuropsychology Unit, Spedali Civili of Brescia, Via Nikolajewka 13, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Flavia Mattioli, Fabio Bellomi & Chiara Stampatori

  2. Centro Sclerosi Multipla, Spedali Civili of Brescia, Ospedale di Montichiari, Brescia, Italy

    Ruggero Capra

  3. Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Brescia, Via Valsabbina, 1, 25123, Brescia, Italy

    Giovanni Parrinello

Authors
  1. Flavia Mattioli
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  2. Fabio Bellomi
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  3. Chiara Stampatori
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  4. Giovanni Parrinello
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  5. Ruggero Capra
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Correspondence to Flavia Mattioli.

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Mattioli, F., Bellomi, F., Stampatori, C. et al. Depression, disability and cognitive impairment in multiple sclerosis: a cross sectional Italian study. Neurol Sci 32, 825–832 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0624-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-011-0624-2

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