Neurology Division, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
PLoS One. 2020 Oct 22;15(10):e0241103. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0241103. eCollection 2020.
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerged in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and Covid-19, a disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 became a pandemic in March 2020. As the pandemic still unfolds, uncertainty circles around the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on patients with chronic diseases, including autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis (MS). To diminish the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection and lessen the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the healthcare of MS patients, it is essential to understand knowledge, attitudes, and various behavioral practices related to Covid-19 among MS patients. Therefore, this study aimed to look at the behavioral practices related to Covid-19 among patients with MS. A total of 176 MS patients diagnosed at least one year before the survey were conveniently sampled online in Saudi Arabia and their data collected using a structured interview questionnaire in electronic Google form. We determined the reliability of the questionnaire by measuring its internal consistency in a pilot sample of 30 participants. Overall, more than 80% of participants had good knowledge and attitudes towards Covid-19. However, this did not correlate well with the impact on healthcare (r = 0.06). Our study revealed that 46% of participants were anxious about taking their medication, and 32% of participants missed their hospital appointments. Furthermore, 15% of the participants had a relapse but did not go to the hospital because of the pandemic, 15.9% stopped their DMTs, and 35.2% missed drug infusions or refills. Our study revealed overall good knowledge and attitudes related to Covid-19 among MS patients. However, the healthcare impact was considerable, as 32% of the participants missed their hospital appointments, and another 15% had a relapse. This highlights the significance of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the healthcare of patients with MS. Measures to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on healthcare service delivery to patients with MS, such as telemedicine, should be strongly encouraged.
严重急性呼吸系统综合征冠状病毒 2（SARS-CoV-2）于 2019 年末在中国武汉出现，由 SARS-CoV-2 引起的新冠疫情于 2020 年 3 月在全球范围内爆发。随着疫情的持续发展，SARS-CoV-2 感染对慢性病患者的影响仍存在诸多不确定性，包括多发性硬化症（MS）等自身免疫性疾病。为降低 SARS-CoV-2 感染风险，减轻新冠疫情对 MS 患者医疗保健的影响，了解 MS 患者对新冠疫情的相关知识、态度和行为实践至关重要。因此，本研究旨在了解 MS 患者与新冠疫情相关的行为实践。本研究采用方便抽样法，于 2022 年 12 月在沙特阿拉伯线上招募了 176 名至少在调查前一年被诊断为 MS 的患者，使用电子谷歌表单的结构化访谈问卷收集数据。我们在 30 名参与者的预试验样本中测量问卷的内部一致性，以确定问卷的可靠性。总体而言，超过 80%的参与者对新冠疫情有较好的知识和态度。然而，这与对医疗保健的影响（r=0.06）相关性不强。我们的研究发现，46%的参与者对服用药物感到焦虑，32%的参与者错过医院预约。此外，15%的参与者出现复发但因疫情未去医院就诊，15.9%停止了疾病修正治疗（DMTs），35.2%错过了药物输注或续药。本研究表明，MS 患者对新冠疫情的相关知识和态度总体较好。然而，医疗保健的影响相当大，因为 32%的参与者错过了医院预约，另有 15%的参与者出现了复发。这突显了新冠疫情对 MS 患者医疗保健的影响。应大力鼓励采取措施减轻疫情对 MS 患者医疗服务提供的影响，如远程医疗。
