Investigation of Relationship Between Social Capital and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis Patients

BACKGROUND: A large portion of existing medical research on Multiple Sclerosis patients focuses more on predicting medical variables (such as diagnosis, treatment) and individual variables such as the onset of disease, gender, etc., rather than broader socio-contextual factors. So that, here has yet been no study investigating factors such as social capital in Multiple Sclerosis patients. AIM: The purpose of this study is determining the relation between social capital and quality of life in Multiple Sclerosis patients who referred to Iran Multiple Sclerosis Society in 2012. METHOD: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 172 patients visiting Iran Multiple Sclerosis Society (Tehran) during 10 months via convenience samplings and face to face interviews. Tools for collecting data included World Bank’s social capital integrated questionnaire (SC-IQ) and Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life (MSQOL) -54. RESULTS: The average age of patients was 34/8±9/6. The analysis of the six dimensions of social capital questionnaire showed that the highest average score belonged to membership in groups and networks (63/3±15/3) and the lowest one was about trust and solidarity (44/3±13/7).The results of the regression model showed that there is a statistical significant and positive relation between social capital and quality of life (P > 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Since the present study has been conducted for the first time in this vulnerable subpopulation of patients, its results can provide invaluable information regarding the quality of life and at the same time present hypotheses about the contributing factors.