Abstract

Objective: Considering inconsistent findings and the absence of published longitudinal studies on large-scale community cohorts, this study aimed to assess the relationship between treatment modalities (injectable vs. oral therapy) and psychiatric symptoms and quality of life (QoL) in individuals with multiple sclerosis.

Method: This cross-sectional study involved 42 patients with multiple sclerosis diagnosed according to McDonald’s 2017 criterion. Participants were grouped into those receiving injectable disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) (19 patients), oral DMTs (22 patients), and healthy controls (20 patients). The Expanded disability status scale, Hamilton depression rating scale (HAM-D), 36-item short form survey (SF-36), Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HAM-A), and headache impact test were applied.

Results: The healthy control group exhibited statistically higher SF-36 total scores than the oral and injectable therapy groups (p<0.05). The HAM-D and HAM-A scores were significantly lower in the healthy control group than in both the oral and injectable therapy groups (p<0.05). HAM-D and HAM-A scores were negatively correlated with the SF-36 total (p<0.01).

Conclusion: Our study contributes to the field by investigating the QoL and psychiatric symptoms in patients receiving both oral and injectable disease-modifying therapy. Our findings show that the effects of oral and injectable DMT use on QoL and psychiatric symptoms are similar.