The Communication of Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis: The Patients’ Perspective

Table 3

Univariate analysis of factors affecting patients’ satisfaction with the disclosure of the diagnosis.

Variable	OR	Lower	Upper	value	LR
		95% CI	95% CI		value
Age at onset
15–25	Ref.
25–35	0.35	0.13	0.95	0.04	0.08
35–45	0.25	0.08	0.76	0.01
45–55	0.28	0.05	1.66	0.16
Gender
Male	Ref.
Female	1.61	0.68	3.81	0.28	0.24
Actual disease
Clinically isolated syndrome	Ref.
Multiple sclerosis	0.57	0.24	1.36	0.21	0.24
Time from the diagnosis
Less than 30 days	Ref.
More than 30 days	1.06	0.35	3.20	0.92	0.89
MS centre location
North of Italy	Ref.
Centre of Italy	0.14	0.01	1.59	0.11	0.17
South of Italy	1.26	0.36	4.48	0.72
EDSS at the time of diagnosis
0	Ref.
1-2	1.10	0.30	3.92	0.88	0.93
>2	0.87	0.17	4.49	0.87
Type of patient care
Inpatient care	Ref.
Outpatient care	1.70	0.50	5.78	0.39	0.38
Day hospital	0.54	0.14	2.07	0.37
Where did you receive the diagnosis?
In my hospital room	Ref.
In a private office	1.06	0.40	2.85	0.90	0.55
In a public space	0.35	0.05	2.60	0.31
Other (by phone or discharge letter)	0.33	0.05	2.38	0.27
Were other people present at the time of the diagnosis?
No	Ref.
My family members	0.64	0.23	1.77	0.39	0.50
Other people	0.37	0.07	1.83	0.22
How long did the communication of the diagnosis take?
Less than 15 minutes	Ref.
15–30 minutes	2.19	0.91	5.27	0.08	0.15
30–60 minutes	4.67	1.00	21.87	0.05
More than 60 minutes	3.14	0.19	51.28	0.42
Did the neurologist provide you with the adequate emotional support?
No	Ref.
A little bit	4.96	1.54	15.96	<0.01	<0.001
Yes	17.72	4.53	69.38	<0.0001
Did the neurologist tailor the communication to your profile?
No	Ref.
A little bit	2.68	0.96	7.49	0.06	0.08
Yes	4.36	1.15	16.45	0.03