Memory impairment in multiple sclerosis: reports of patients and relatives

This paper reports the results of a questionnaire survey on problems in everyday memory that involved 115 community-based patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their carers or close relatives. Cluster analyses of their responses enabled the patients to be classified as either 'impaired' or 'unimpaired', though the salient items differed between the reports of the patients and the relatives. Both the self-reports and the relatives' reports indicated that roughly 10 per cent of the patients were impaired, a much lower estimate than that which was previously suggested based upon psychometric testing. It is concluded that neuropsychological assessment may underestimate the capacity of MS patients in their daily activities.