Author Of 2 Presentations
LB1169 - Psychological consequences of COVID-19 pandemic in Italian MS patients: a surprising resilience (ID 1668)
Abstract
Background
Italy was strongly hit by COVID-19 pandemic, therefore the Italian Government decreed urgent measures promoting social distancing in order to limit the spread of the virus. In fact, since March 11th, all not indispensable work, social, sporting, retail and recreational activities were suspended or, where possible, converted to the so-called smart-working. Fear of getting sick from COVID-19, government’s lockdown and the imposed social distancing might have an impact on anxiety, depression and quality of life (QoL) in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS).
Objectives
The aim of our study was to investigate anxiety, depression and QoL changes in pwMS during SARS-CoV-2 outbreak and lockdown in Italy.
Methods
Sixty-seven pwMS with a previous (less than 6 months) neuropsychological evaluation before SARS-CoV-2 outbreak (T0) were re-evaluated at the time of the outbreak and lockdown in Italy (T1). They underwent a clinical and neurological evaluation (at T0) and completed the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y1), the Beck Depression Inventory second edition (BDI-II), and Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MsQoL-54) at T0 and T1. Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons was applied.
Results
BDI-II and STAI-Y1 scores did not change between T0 and T1, whereas the satisfaction on sexual function subscale of MsQoL-54 was significantly higher at T1 (p<0.001).
Conclusions
Despite the tight Italian lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the fear of getting sick, we did not observe a relevant negative impact on anxiety, depression and QoL of our sample of pwMS. Contrariwise, we were even able to detect some positive effects on specific aspects of QoL, such as sexual satisfaction.
P0650 - The contribution of cortical lesions to fatigue and depression in relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis. (ID 1163)
Abstract
Background
Despite the high prevalence and debilitating nature of fatigue and depression in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis (RRMS), the underlying pathophysiology is still far from being fully understood. While several findings highlighted the contribution of white matter lesion load (WMLL) and brain atrophy, the role of cortical lesions (CL) has been only marginally assessed.
Objectives
To investigate: i) the contribution of CL volume to fatigue and depression; ii) the relative role of total CL volume (tCLV), intracortical lesion volume (ICLV) and juxtacortical lesion volume (JCLV).
Methods
Sixty-five RRMS patients underwent: i) clinical evaluation including the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), ii) assessment of fatigue and depression trough the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), iii) a 3T–MRI protocol including Double-Echo (DE) and 3D–Double Inversion Recovery (DIR) imaging to identify WMLL and CL. Correlation analyses were run between WMLL, CL and MFIS, and BDI. A multiple linear regression model was applied to evaluate the contribution of CL to MFIS and BDI, controlling for clinico-demographic data and WMLL.
Results
The correlation analysis showed that tCLV and JCLV correlated with MFIS (rho= 0.31, p=0.007; rho= 0.28, p=0.01 rispectively) and BDI (rho= 0.24, p=0.03 and rho= 0.23, p=0.04, rispectively), while ICLV or WMLL did not correlate with neither MFIS nor BDI. Regression analysis did not reveal any CL volume as a significant predictor of fatigue or depression.
Conclusions
Although CL volume is not a significant independent predictor of fatigue and depression, our study shows a significant role of CL volume in determining these symptoms in RRMS.