Knowledge of patients with multiple sclerosis about their disease and prevention of complications [Multiple sklerozlu hastalarin hastali{dotless}klari{dotless} ve komplikasyonlardan korunma konusundaki bilgileri]

Background: multiple sclerosis is a chronic disease with progressive pathology that results in symptoms that affect,or potentially affect,all aspects of living. it is important to evaluate the knowledge of multiple sclerosis patients regarding their disease and provide education so that these patients' problems can be prevented. aim: this study was conducted to determine patients' knowledge about their disease and prevention of complications. method: this study was a descriptive study. the study was carried out at a university hospital in turkey with 106 patients during may-december 2003. data were collected with a questionnaire prepared by the investigators,and the data were evaluated with percentages and chi square test. results: of the patients,94.3% received information about the disease and 79% disease progression and prognosis,79% found the information adequate. the mentioned side effects were weight gain with steroids in 56%,and flu-like symptoms from interferon in 80.9%. the patients' most frequently reported problem was a tendency to be involved in accidents and most complained of fatigue leading to 30% feeling the need to walk carefully at home to prevent trauma and 59.2% having regular rest periods at home and at work for their fatigue problem. conclusion: patients who did not have adequate information about their disease were found to have more problems at the end of the study and we suggest that it may be possible to decrease future problems related to the disease by providing information to these patients. practice implications: it is important to inform multiple sclerosis patients about the illness and complications that can occur and nurses to provide information and counseling for the patients to be able to cope. the results could be useful in the design of future studies for education,counselling and care of multiple sclerosis patients.