ArticleNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2022
Association between relapses, stress, and depression in people with multiple sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Occupational outcomes of people with multiple sclerosis during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review with meta-analysis.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Comorbidities at MS Diagnosis and Their Association With Treatment Persistence: Real-World Clinical Data.Brain and behavior · 2026Article
- Psychological Burden in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: Sociodemographic and Clinical Determinants of Persistent Anxiety and Depression over a Six-Month Follow-Up.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Article
- Characteristics of Disease Relapses and Their Relationships with Weather Conditions in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Depression Polygenicity and Disease Activity and Disability Worsening in Multiple Sclerosis.Annals of neurology · 2025Article
- Trauma Burden Affected People with Multiple Sclerosis During SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Is COVID-19 Still a Threat? An Expert Opinion Review on the Continued Healthcare Burden in Immunocompromised Individuals.Advances in therapy · 2025Review
- The Polygenic Nature of Multiple Sclerosis: Genetic Variants, Immunological Modulation, and Environmental Connections.Endocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2025Review
- Fatigue and depression influence the prevalence of anxiety in patients with multiple sclerosis.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Article
- Depression and anxiety in multiple sclerosis. Review of a fatal combination.Journal of neural transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996) · 2024Review
- Clinically Manifest Infections Do Not Increase the Relapse Risk in People with Multiple Sclerosis Treated with Disease-Modifying Therapies: A Prospective Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundStress is a potential trigger for clinical and radiological activity in Multiple Sclerosis (MS). COVID-19 pandemic has been a relevant source of mental distress in people with MS (pwMS) and deeply impacted on disease management.
objectiveTo investigate the association between stress, anxiety, depression, and risk of relapse during the COVID-19 pandemic.
methodsFrom an electronic database used for clinical practice, we extracted data of relapsing-remitting (RR) or relapsing-progressive (RP) MS patients and calculated the annualized relapse rate (ARR) during 2019 and 2020. From 01/12/2020 to 30/12/2020, enrolled patients were invited to fill in a Google Forms survey to investigate depression, anxiety, stress, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
resultsWe selected 216 patients with RR or RP-MS to calculate ARR: compared to 2019, in 2020 there was a significant increase in ARR (p = 0.0142). Over 216 selected pwMS, 154 completed the survey. Matching the survey responses and incidence of relapses in 2020, there was a significant association between relapses and stress (p = 0.030) and relapses and depression (p = 0.011), but not between relapses and anxiety (p = 0.130) or PTSD (p = 0.279).
conclusionsOur results support the hypothesis that pandemic-related stress is associated to clinical exacerbations, both as a possible consequence of the COVID-19 impact on MS care.
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