Anxiety, Depression, and Expanded Disability Status Scale Independently Predict the Perception of Disability in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross‐Sectional Study

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is the most common cause of disability in young adults due to several motor, sensory, and cognitive symptoms. However, little is still known about the impact of psychological, cognitive, and social-support variables on subjective disability. This study is aimed at exploring the role of clinical, psychological, cognitive, and social-support variables in predicting disability levels as perceived by persons with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) and the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) were used as subjective and objective measures of disability, respectively. State-Trait Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory-II assessed symptoms of anxiety and depression; 19-item Medical Outcome Study-Social Support Survey assessed social support; and Rao's Brief Repeatable Battery assessed cognitive functioning. A multivariable regression analysis was applied using the WHODAS 2.0 as an outcome. One hundred and fifty-one pwMS (93 females, mean age 51.6, standard deviation (SD) 5.8) were enrolled. EDSS (<i>β</i> = 7.190; <i>p</i> < 0.001), state anxiety (<i>β</i> = 0.265; <i>p</i> = 0.009), and symptoms of depression (<i>β</i> = 0.835; <i>p</i> < 0.001) explained a large amount of the variance of subjective disability (Adj.<i>R</i> ² = 0.705; <i>p</i> < 0.001) measured through the WHODAS 2.0. Contrarily, cognitive functioning and perceived social support are not independently associated with the WHODAS 2.0 score. Psychosocial interventions in rehabilitation settings, aimed at reducing the overall perceived disability of pwMS, should be implemented in rehabilitation programs.