Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on progressive multiple sclerosis patients

Marco Vercellino; Chiara Bosa; Anastasia Alteno; Valentina Schillaci; Manuel Petracca; Stella Marasciulo; Paola Cavalla

doi:10.1007/s10072-022-05909-z

Impact of COVID-19 lockdown on progressive multiple sclerosis patients

Neurol Sci. 2022 May;43(5):2943-2946. doi: 10.1007/s10072-022-05909-z. Epub 2022 Jan 24.

Authors

Marco Vercellino¹, Chiara Bosa², Anastasia Alteno², Valentina Schillaci², Manuel Petracca², Stella Marasciulo², Paola Cavalla²

Affiliations

¹ Multiple Sclerosis Center, Neurologia I U, Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Via Cherasco 15, 10126, Torino, Italy. marco.vercellino@unito.it.
² Multiple Sclerosis Center, Neurologia I U, Department of Neuroscience and Mental Health, AOU Città della Salute e della Scienza di Torino, Via Cherasco 15, 10126, Torino, Italy.

Abstract

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic caused major changes in the lifestyle and in the access to health services worldwide. Progressive multiple sclerosis (pMS) patients are a vulnerable population at high risk of disability worsening.

Objective and methods: The objective of this study was to assess the health outcomes of COVID-19 lockdown in a cohort of 225 pMS patients.

Results: Worsening of neurological disability (19.7%) and fatigue (32.4%), depression (30.4%), and weight increase (28.3%) were observed in pMS patients during lockdown, along with discontinuation of regular physical exercise (47.1%) and of physical therapy (59.3%).

Conclusion: These results highlight the adverse impact, on pMS patients, of the public health measures implemented for the containment of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Disability; Exercise; Fatigue; Lockdown; Progressive multiple sclerosis.

MeSH terms

COVID-19*
Communicable Disease Control
Humans
Multiple Sclerosis* / epidemiology
Multiple Sclerosis* / therapy
Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Progressive* / epidemiology
Pandemics
SARS-CoV-2