Introduction: Multiple Sclerosis (MS), as one of the most common disorders of the central nervous system, is accompanied by various cognitive problems. About 50-60% of MS patients are involve with cognitive problems and this is the main factor leading to their job loss and decreasing their quality of life. The current survey aimed to compare high cognitive processes in MS patients and normal individuals.
Methods: Among the 1293 members of MS association in Mazandaran province in 2011, 44 patients (22 females and 22 males) were selected non randomly (biased sampling). Also, 44 individuals who were matched with the patients regarding sex, age, and education level were considered as the control group. The exclusion criteria of the study were depression, lack of computer knowledge, and EDSS>4. In order to assess higher cognitive processes, London tower test was used in which, the number of errors, total test time, and delay time were evaluated. The data were analyzed using independent t-test.
Results: The results revealed a significant difference between the MS and control groups regarding the number of trials made for solving the problems. Besides, the number of errors was higher in the patients group (12.73+8.90) compared to the control group (6.48+5.49) (P<0.0001). The total test time was also higher in the patients group (609+342.63) compared to the control group (488.23+177.37) (P=0.007). However, no significant difference was found between the two groups regarding the total delay time (P=0.436).
Conclusion: Among the variables evaluated using London tower test, decrease in the speed of data analysis was the major cognitive impairment in MS patients.