News #ACTRIMS2017 – Smoking Significantly Worsens Quality of Life for MS Patients, Study Shows #ACTRIMS2017 – Smoking Significantly Worsens Quality of Life for MS Patients, Study Shows by Patricia Inacio, PhD | February 27, 2017 Share this article: Share article via email Copy article link Multiple sclerosis (MS) patients who smokeĀ have a significantly worse quality of life than non-smoking MS patients, concludes a new study. Researchers presented the study,Ā āSmokers with MS have greater decrements in quality of life and disability than non-smokers,ā at the Americas Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ACTRIMS) 2017 Forum, held Feb. 23-25 in Orlando, Florida. Tobacco is known to worsen the prognosis in a variety of diseases including MS, yet some patients continue to smoke even after MS symptoms appear.Ā In this study, researchers analyzed the links among smoking status and patientsā health-related quality of life (HRQOL), disease activity and global disability in a U.S. cohort ofĀ MS patients. To this end, researchers compared smokers to non-smokers in a random sample of 950Ā people who responded toĀ a survey conducted by the North American Research Committee on MS. TheĀ HRQOL included both a physical component and a mental component summary. The team used performance and functionality scales to assess disease activity, and Patient Determined Disease Steps to evaluate global disability.Ā Results addressing the link between smoking status and disease outcomes were adjusted for patients’ sex, disease onset age, age at survey, time from diagnosis, race, body mass index and MS subtype. ResearchersĀ found that 11 percent of those analyzed were active smokers. They scored lower on all HRQOL indicators than non-smokers. They also scored lower on the mental and physical component summary and had more disabilities,Ā as measured by the performance and functionality scales (exception mobility). āActive smokers were ~50% more likely to report greater disability in bladder/bowel domain, sensory symptoms and spasticity compared to non-smokers,” researchers wrote. “For dexterity, vision, fatigue, cognitive symptoms, depression, tremor/coordination and pain, smokers were at least twice as likely to report greater disability compared to non-smokers.” Gender, number of cigarettes smoked, or MS subtype did not influence any of the observed trends. Overall, āactive smoking is meaningfully associated with deficits across multiple domains in people with MS, and adds to the growing literature of the need for MS-tailored smoking cessation programs,ā researchers concluded. Print This Page About the Author Patricia Inacio, PhD Patricia holds her PhD in cell biology from the University Nova de Lisboa, Portugal, and has served as an author on several research projects and fellowships, as well as major grant applications for European agencies. She also served as a PhD student research assistant in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University, New York, for which she was awarded a Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) fellowship. Tags ACTRIMS 2017, disability, disease activity, Health Related Quality of Life, HRQoL
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