Publications by authors named "George Jelinek"

Background: Evidence suggests that illness perceptions held by people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) impact affective distress and physical health outcomes. In a randomized controlled trial, we developed 2 MS Online Courses-the standard care course and the intervention course (IC). The IC was adapted from an evidence-based lifestyle program.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Modifiable lifestyle risk factors for progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) have been increasingly studied. This study employed a single-group design involving a one-off intensive live-in educational workshop on lifestyle modification for people with MS. We aimed to examine changes in a range of clinical and lifestyle variables and quality of life, self-efficacy, physical impact of MS and disability from baseline to 3- and 5-years post-intervention.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Digital health interventions increase access to multiple sclerosis (MS)-related knowledge for people living with MS; however, our understanding of factors associated with engagement in web-based learning is limited.

Objective: This study aims to examine associations between participant sociodemographic, health, and lifestyle-related characteristics and the commencement and completion of the Multiple Sclerosis Online Course (MSOC) in a randomized controlled trial (RCT).

Methods: An intervention course was developed based on the Overcoming MS Program-an evidence-based lifestyle modification program for MS, and a standard care course was developed based on international MS website information.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: Healthy lifestyle behaviour modification may improve health outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), but empirical evidence is needed to confirm prior study findings. We developed an online multimodal lifestyle intervention (Multiple Sclerosis Online Course) to examine the impact of lifestyle modification on health outcomes in pwMS via a randomized control trial (RCT). However, the present study specifically analyses baseline data to assess engagement with healthy lifestyles by RCT participants and cross-sectional associations with health outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Fatigue and disability are indicators of disease progression experienced by many people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). Understanding trajectories of these outcomes, and their predictors, may provide insight to potential interventions for MS management.

Methods: Survey data from 839 pwMS from the Health Outcomes and Lifestyle in pwMS study were analysed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Digital technologies have afforded people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) access to telehealth consultations, diagnostic tools, and monitoring. Although health care professionals remain the most trusted source of information, the internet has emerged as a valuable resource for providing MS-related information, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Notably, people living with MS are increasingly seeking educational content for a range of topics related to the self-management of MS; however, web-based information seeking remains largely underevaluated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Relationships between stressful life events (SLEs) and health outcomes in people living with multiple sclerosis (plwMS), beyond relapse, are not well-established. We examined associations between SLEs and fatigue and symptoms of depression in plwMS.

Methods: 948 participants were queried whether they had experienced any of the 16 SLEs (Holmes-Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale) in the preceding 12 months.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: Modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet, have been implicated in multiple sclerosis (MS) progression, but prospective evidence is limited. The aim of this study was to examine prospective relationships between quality of diet and subsequent disability over 7.5 years in an international cohort of people living with MS (pwMS).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: People living with multiple sclerosis (plwMS) seek access to information on evidence-based lifestyle-related risk factors associated with multiple sclerosis (MS). As the internet has made delivery of lifestyle information increasingly accessible and cost-effective, we designed the Multiple Sclerosis Online Course (MSOC) to deliver a multimodal lifestyle modification program for plwMS. Two MS online courses were developed: the intervention course based on lifestyle recommendations of the Overcoming Multiple Sclerosis (OMS) program and the standard-care course representing standard lifestyle recommendations from other MS websites.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: The Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 (MSQOL-54) is one of the most commonly-used MS-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) measures. It is a multidimensional, MS-specific HRQOL inventory, which includes the generic SF-36 core items, supplemented with 18 MS-targeted items. Availability of an adaptive short version providing immediate item scoring may improve instrument usability and validity.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: People with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) report reduced quality of life (QoL). Engagement with healthy lifestyle behaviours, including consuming a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and adequate vitamin D exposure, is associated with higher QoL. We aim to assess whether individual lifestyle behaviours are more beneficial to QoL than others, and whether there are additive benefits to QoL by engaging in multiple healthy behaviours concurrently.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Introduction: Increasingly, dietary improvements have been shown to have positive associations with health outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). However, adhering to a MS-specific or high-quality diet may be a challenge. We therefore assessed the level of diet-adherence necessary to improve health outcomes of depression, fatigue, and disability.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background/purpose: Health state utilities (HSU) are a subjective measure of an individual's health-related quality of life (HRQoL), adjusted by societal or patient relative preference weights for living in different states of health-related quality of life (HRQoL), derived from patient-reported responses to multi-attribute utility instrument (MAUI), and can be used as inputs for cost-utility analyses and in clinical assessment. This research assessed associations of diet with subsequent HSU in a large international cohort of people living with multiple sclerosis (MS), a progressive autoimmune condition of the central nervous system.

Methods: HSUs were generated from responses to Short-Form Six-Dimension (SF-6D) MAUI, and quality-of-the-diet by Diet Habits Questionnaire (DHQ).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Modification of lifestyle-related risk factors for multiple sclerosis (MS) has been associated with improved health outcomes when compared with standard medical management alone. Based on an existing lifestyle modification program offered as a residential workshop, the MS Online Course (MSOC) was developed to translate the workshop into an online intervention. We performed a pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT), to assess the feasibility concepts of accessibility, learnability and desirability through quantitative and qualitative analyzes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Understanding the dietary characteristics of people living with multiple sclerosis (plwMS) may assist in the planning of nutrition interventions for multiple sclerosis; yet dietary assessment methods in existing studies are not well established. The aim of this study was to validate the psychometric properties (construct validity and internal consistency) of the Dietary Habits Questionnaire (DHQ) against repeated online 24-h recall dietary assessments. The DHQ is a 24-item tool that is scored using ten dietary sub-scores.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Modifiable lifestyle factors are important to aid people with multiple sclerosis in the self-management of their disease. Current self-management programs are limited by their face-to-face mode of delivery but there is immense potential with the internet to deliver these programs effectively.

Objective: The aims of this study are to assess the feasibility of a digitalized educational lifestyle self-management program for people with MS.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Multiple sclerosis is a demyelinating autoimmune disease, presenting with heterogenous symptoms that impact daily living. Undertaking stress-reducing activities may reduce symptoms including depression and fatigue, and enhance mastery, the sense of control of one's life. We assessed cross-sectional associations of undertaking stress-reducing activities or meditation on depression, fatigue, and mastery, and 5-year prospective relationships between meditation and these outcomes.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: There is increasing interest in the role of diet in multiple sclerosis (MS) progression and whether a healthier diet may lead to improved health and wellbeing in people living with MS (plwMS).

Objective: To assess the prospective relationship of the quality of dietary intakes with quality of life (QoL) in an international cohort of plwMS followed over 7.5 years.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Digital health interventions have revolutionized multiple sclerosis (MS) care by supporting people with MS to better self-manage their disease. It is now understood that the technological elements that comprise this category of digital health interventions can influence participant engagement in self-management programs, and people with MS can experience significant barriers, influenced by these elements, to remaining engaged during a period of learning. It is essential to explore the influence of technological elements in mitigating attrition.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Multiple sclerosis (MS), a neuroinflammatory disorder, occurs as non-progressive or progressive phenotypes; both forms present with diverse symptoms that may reduce quality of life (QoL). Adherence to healthy lifestyle behaviors has been associated with higher QoL in people with MS; whether these associations differ based on MS phenotype is unknown. Cross-sectional self-reported observational data from 1108 iConquerMS participants were analysed.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Mastery is the extent to which an individual perceives their life circumstances as being under their control and not predominantly influenced by external factors. The relationship of mastery with clinical outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) has not been well-researched. We assessed the relationships of mastery with fatigue, disability, relapse number, and depression risk among pwMS over 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Diet has been associated with the onset and progression of multiple sclerosis (MS). Multiple diets, varying in recommendations, have been proposed as beneficial to people with MS. The characteristics of those who follow specific diet-programs and the relationships of these diet-programs with diet quality is under-explored.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Growing evidence suggests a role of lifestyle modification in improved health outcomes for people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS); however, perspectives of pwMS who engage in lifestyle modification are lacking.

Objective: We explored perspectives of pwMS regarding the modification of lifestyle-related risk factors in multiple sclerosis (MS) for disease management to understand attitudes to and experiences of lifestyle modification as part of self-management from a patient perspective.

Design: Participants were ≥18 years and English speaking who responded to a free-text open-ended question in the Health Outcomes and Lifestyle In a Sample of pwMS (HOLISM), an international online survey.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: MSQOL-54 is a multidimensional, widely-used, health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument specific for multiple sclerosis (MS). Findings from the validation study suggested that the two MSQOL-54 composite scores are correlated. Given this correlation, it could be assumed that a unique total score of HRQOL may be calculated, with the advantage to provide key stakeholders with a single overall HRQOL score.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background And Purpose: Modifiable lifestyle factors, including diet, may affect clinical outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS). This study assessed the relationships between diet, and disability, fatigue, and depression risk in people with MS.

Methods: Participants from the Health Outcomes and Lifestyle In a Sample of people with Multiple sclerosis (HOLISM) international cohort were assessed over 2.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF