Relationship between occupation and life satisfaction in people with multiple sclerosis

Activity is essential for all human beings, and provides a means through which human beings develop, gain recognition, and fulfil life's goals. The focus for this study was on activities performed by people with a chronic disease and their effects on experienced life satisfaction. Thirty subjects with multiple sclerosis (MS) were interviewed with regard to activities of daily living (ADL), and checklists were used for activity preferences and levels of satisfaction with life as a whole and with nine domain-specific forms of life satisfaction. The results of the study reveal 14 of the subjects to be satisfied and 16 to be dissatisfied. The main differences between the two groups were that the satisfied were less tired, and that they were more independent in self-care. Those in the satisfied group reported being more satisfied with leisure situation (57%, cf. 25% in the dissatisfied group) and housekeeping ability (36%, cf. 6% in the dissatisfied group). Leisure and housekeeping appear to have an impact on subjects' experienced satisfaction, and are factors to be taken into consideration by occupational therapists when treating MS patients.