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Uniwersytet SWPS - Logo

Does country of origin impact the quality of life in ALS?

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a progressive disease that involves degeneration of the central and peripheral motor system. An international team of researchers, including Maksymilian Bielecki, Ph.D. from SWPS Univeristy’s Institute of Psychology, investigated factors that influence the quality of Life (QoL) and depression in patients suffering from ALS.

#amyotrophic lateral sclerosis #wellbeing #quality of life #depression #pain

concerned older man in wheelchair

What we researched:

  • We aimed to prospectively assess factors influencing the quality of life (QoL) and depression in ALS patients compared to healthy controls (HCs) from Poland, Germany and Sweden and their relationship to socio-demographic and clinical factors.

How we did it:

  • We carried out standardized interviews for quality of life, depression, functional status and pain with 314 ALS patients (120 from Poland, 140 from Germany, 54 from Sweden) and 311 age-, sex- and education-level-matched healthy individuals in the control group.

What we discovered:

  • Patients from all three countries showed similar levels of functional impairment. Overall, ALS patients assessed their quality of life as lower compared to HCs.
  • The German and Swedish patients, but not the Polish ones, reported higher depression levels than the corresponding HCs.
  • Analysis of ALS groups revealed that functional impairment was related to a lower quality of life (ACSA) and higher depression levels among German ALS patients.
  • Longer time since diagnosis predicted lower depression and (in male subjects) higher quality of life.

Why is it important?

  • Because the study indicates that the relationships between clinical and demographic factors are moderated by country of provenance. This bears implications for the design and interpretation of scientific and clinical studies, which should reflect the complexity and heterogeneity of mechanisms determining QoL.

Our results bear methodological implications, pointing to the importance of the use of country-specific control groups, taking into account the heterogeneity of the effects and limited generalizability of the results across cultural contexts (even in relative geographical proximity) at all stages of the research process.