Evaluation of change in fatigue, self-efficacy and health-related quality of life, after a group educational intervention programme for persons with neuromuscular diseases or multiple sclerosis: a pilot study

Purpose. An intervention for persons with neuromuscular diseases (NMD) or multiple sclerosis (MS) who experienced severe fatigue was developed which aimed at educating participants in maintaining a balance between capacity and load in their daily activities. This pilot study evaluated the results of this intervention. Methods. Persons with NMD or MS who experienced severe fatigue were included. Outcome measures were: fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale), health-related quality of life (HRQoL; SF-36) and self-efficacy (ALCOS-16). Changes in scores between the start of the intervention (T0) and 3 months post-intervention (T1) were tested with the Wilcoxon tests in the complete group and in subgroups (gender, education, high/low self-efficacy). Results. Forty-three persons participated. Significant improvements of HRQoL were found for the domains role-physical, mental health and general health perceptions. Subgroup analyses showed more improvement in males (fatigue, role-physical, vitality, bodily pain, general health perceptions), participants with lower education (role-physical, vitality) and participants with low self-efficacy at T0 (self-efficacy, mental health, general health perceptions) than in females, participants with higher education and participants with higher initial self-efficacy. Conclusion. This pilot-study provides preliminary evidence for the effectiveness of a group educational intervention in improving HRQoL without increasing fatigue in persons with NMD and MS.