Objectives: (a) to study differences in perceived social support between patients with Multiple sclerosis(PwMS) and healthy controls. (b) to analyze the associations and influence between perceived social support and clinical and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) variables in MS patients.

151 MS patients and 89 healthy controls (HC) were studied. HC: Age: 42.01±12.25 years; ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉú: 14.60±2.44 years; Patients: Age: 41.46±9.97; ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉú:14.05±3.26 years;  EDSS:2.88±2.10; Disease evolution:12.46±10.07 years. Instruments: PSS: MOS (Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey); Clinical Variables: EDSS, Fatigue Scale (FSS); Depression Inventory (BDI-II); HRQoL: MusiQol. Parametric and non-parametric statistics were used, significance p value<0.05.

Patients presented lower scores than HC in global score of PSS (t(238)=- 1.99, p=0.04) and in each functional dimension (t(238)=between-2.59 and -2.09, p<0.05). Associations were found between PSS with depression and fatigue (r = between-0.20 and -0.29, p <0.05) and with the different dimensions of the MusiQol (r = between-0.18 and 0.48, p <0.05). In multiple regression analysis, the four models tested contributed significantly to the explained variance of HRQoL (between 41 and 47%). The model constituted with emotional/informational support explained the greatest variation of HRQoL (47%).

Patients with MS have less perceived social support than the healthy population, this has an impact on their quality of life. Social support should be considered for an appropriate and patient-centered therapeutic approach.