Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Self-assessment reliability in multiple sclerosis: the role of socio-demographic, clinical, and quality of life aspects

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:
Neurological Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Introduction

Several multiple sclerosis studies matching self- and physician assessment of disease course and disability show moderate and high agreement respectively. However, the role played by socio-demographic, clinical, and quality of life (QoL) factors was not much investigated. The study aims at exploring how self-/physician agreement could depend on these variables.

Materials and methods

Participants were asked to report own disease course and disability according to preset categories. Kappa-value and confidence interval (CI) for disease course and two-way random interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and CI for disability were calculated to evaluate self-/physician agreement. Χ2 was applied to examine whether other factors (gender, age, education, civil status, disease duration, fatigue, quality of life) had systematic effects.

Results

Data analysis on 203 participants indicated fair agreement (Kappa-value = 0.30; 95% CI 0.23–0.38) and no dependency on the categories of each variable for disease course. Satisfactory correlation was found for disability (ICC = 0.74; 95% IC 0.67–0.80), good agreement was found for almost all variable categories, and significant differences were observed for education (better agreement for higher levels), disease duration, fatigue and QoL (better agreement for worse conditions).

Discussion

Results seem to suggest that higher education and worse clinical and QoL conditions could engage the patient in developing more disease awareness and realistic self-perception and self-evaluation.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Bamer AM, Cetin K, Amtmann D, Bowen JD, Johnson KL (2007) Comparing a self-report questionnaire with physician assessment for determining multiple sclerosis clinical disease course: a validation study. Mult Scler 13:1033–1037

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Solari A, Amato MP, Bergamaschi R, Logroscino G, Citterio A, Bochicchio D, Filippini G (1993) Accuracy of self-assessment of the minimal record of disability in patients with multiple sclerosis. Acta Neurol Scand 87:43–46

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Collins CD, Ivry B, Bowen JD, Cheng EM, Dobson R, Goodin DS, Lechner-Scott J, Kappos L, Galea I (2016) A comparative analysis of patient-reported expanded disability status scale tools. Mult Scler 22(10):1349–1358

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Bowen J, Gibbons L, Gianas A, Kraft G (2001) Self-administered expanded disability status scale with functional system scores correlates well with a physician-administered test. Mult Scler 7:201–206

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Kobelt G, Berg J, Lindgren P, Jönsson B (2006) Costs and quality of life in multiple sclerosis in Europe: method of assessment and analysis. Eur J Health Econ 2:5–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Wilski M, Tasiemski T (2016) Illness perception, treatment beliefs, self-esteem, and self-efficacy as correlates of self-management in multiple sclerosis. Acta Neurol Scand 133:338–345

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Krokavcova M, van Dijk JP, Nagyova I, Rosenberger J, Gavelova M, Gdovinova Z, Groothoff JW (2009) Perceived health status as measured by the SF-36 in patients with multiple sclerosis: a review. Scand J Caring Sci 23:529–538

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Pardini M, Bonzano L, Roccatagliata L, Mancardi GL, Bove M (2013) The fatigue-motor performance paradox in multiple sclerosis. Sci Rep 3:2001

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Tacchino A, Brichetto G, Zaratin P, Battaglia MA, Ponzio M (2017) Multiple sclerosis and rehabilitation: an overview of the different rehabilitation settings. Neurol Sci 38(12):2131–2138

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Berno S, Coenen M, Leib A, Cieza A, Kesselring J (2012) Validation of the comprehensive international classification of functioning, disability, and health core set for multiple sclerosis from the perspective of physicians. J Neurol 259(8):1713–1726

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

This study was funded by the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation (project 2013/S/3).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Research, Italian Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Genoa, Italy

    Andrea Tacchino, Giampaolo Brichetto, Paola Zaratin & Michela Ponzio

  2. Department of Life Science, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Mario Alberto Battaglia

Authors
  1. Andrea Tacchino
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Giampaolo Brichetto
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Paola Zaratin
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Mario Alberto Battaglia
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Michela Ponzio
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Tacchino.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Tacchino, A., Brichetto, G., Zaratin, P. et al. Self-assessment reliability in multiple sclerosis: the role of socio-demographic, clinical, and quality of life aspects. Neurol Sci 40, 617–620 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-018-3589-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-018-3589-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation