Cognitive performance of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in autobiographical, working and prospective memory in comparison with normal people

Introduction: This study aims to compare the cognitive performance of patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) in the field of autobiographical, prospective and working memory compared to normal people.Method: In a causal-comparative study using convenience sampling 200 patients with MS (100 were affected less and 100 were affected more than 2 years (and 100 healthy individuals were matched regarding their age, sex, education level and economic conditions. Research tools included Autobiographical Memory Interviews (AMI), Autobiographical Memory Test (AMT), questionnaire of Prospective Oriented Memory (POM) and the information processing index. The obtained data were analyzed using MANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test.Results: The results showed that in all three areas of working, autobiographical and prospective memory there is a significant difference between MS patients (groups affected more and less than 2 years) and the normal group. This reflects the poor performance of MS patients in the three working, autobiographical and prospective memory compared to the normal group.Conclusion: According to the findings, it seems that the MS disease can damage cognitive performance. Providing cognitive rehabilitation exercises in order to improve cognitive performance and processing speed in these patients is debatable. Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis, Autobiographical Memory, Working Memory, Prospective Memory