Patterns of prospective memory errors differ in persons with multiple sclerosis

Prospective memory (PM) deficits have been documented in multiple sclerosis (MS). This study aimed to explore the specific types of errors made by persons with MS (PwMS), including differences between PwMS and healthy controls (HC) and PwMS who do and do not have impairments in processing speed and/or verbal learning and memory.

PwMS (n = 111) and HC (n = 75) completed the Memory for Intentions Test (MIST), an objective measure of PM that has five types of errors that can be coded (PM failure, task substitution, loss of content, loss of time, and random errors). The number and types of PM errors were calculated for the overall MIST and six subscales, which break down performance by types of delay (2-Minute and 15-Minute), cue (Time and Event), and response (Verbal and Action). Impairment was defined as performing < 1.5 SD on either the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) or Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test (RAVLT). Bivariate analyses were used to examine group differences, with post-hoc pairwise comparisons with Bonferroni corrections.

Nearly 93% of PwMS made at least one PM error, compared to 76% of HC (V = .24, p = .001). The most commonly made PM error by PwMS was loss of content errors (45.0%). PwMS made significantly more task substitution errors (26.4% vs. 7.6%, p < .001) and fewer loss of time errors (9.5% vs. 21.2%, p < .001) than HC. Impaired PwMS made more errors than non-impaired PwMS, specifically PM failures on time-based tasks.

PM errors are common in PwMS, particularly when there are longer delays and time-based cues. Not only do PwMS make more errors than demographically similar HC, but they exhibit different cognitive process failures.