Depression severity and its predictors among multiple sclerosis patients in Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study

Aim: To assess depression severity among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Methods: Our survey was carried out among a sample of 598 MS patients (35.8％ were males and 64.2％ were females) from all different regions of KSA. A self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. The Chi-square test was applied to examine the association between demographic factors, depression severity and level of disability. Results: The mean age of patients at the time of diagnosis was 26.1 ± 7.9 years (range 15 to 60 years). The mean duration of the disease was 6.6 ± 4.8 years. More than quarter of patients (27.1％) were admitted during last year. Our results revealed that 9.7％ of MS patients had a positive family history of MS, 27.8％ of patients were also suffering from different chronic diseases. A large proportion of patients were receiving drugs for MS (e.g. interferon-β by 26.2％ of patients). Among respondents, the majority (53.2％) were likely to have a mild level of disability and mild depression severity (30.8％), with a significant relationship between the level of disability and depression severity. Conclusion: Severity of depression is mostly mild among MS patients, while only some have severe depression. Depression severity is significantly related to the level of MS patients' disability. Early support of MS patients, especially newly diagnosed ones, is strongly advised in order to ensure a better quality of life. It is recommended to conduct a nationwide study to explore severity of depression among MS patients in Saudi Arabia.