Depressive symptoms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: associations with quality of life, disease progression and perceived social support-a German multicenter study.
Depressive symptoms in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis strongly correlate with worse emotional well-being on quality-of-life scale
Depressive symptoms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: associations with quality of life, disease progression and perceived social support-a German multicenter study.
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) is a rapidly progressive, fatal neurodegenerative disease.
To evaluate associations between demographic/clinical variables and patient-reported outcomes, we performed Pearson's, Spearman's, and partial correlation analyses.
To evaluate associations between demographic/clinical variables and patient-reported outcomes, we performed Pearson's, Spearman's, and partial correlation analyses.
Out of the 150 patients examined, 60% reported depressive symptoms, with half of them exhibiting clinically relevant depressive symptoms.
Patients with depressive symptoms reported significantly more physical impairments (p = .002) and less perceived social support by their families (p = .016) and friends (p < .001) compared to patients without depressive symptoms.
Depressive symptoms are prevalent in patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis and are closely associated with faster disease progression, reduced physical functioning, poorer health-related quality of life, and lower perceived social support.
Further studies, particularly using qualitative methods, are needed to elucidate protective factors, clarify psychosocial mechanisms, and support the conceptualization of specialized and integrated psychosocial care for patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in Germany.