Social anxiety disorder among patients with multiple sclerosis: a population-based case-control study in Ecuador.

Introduction: Several studies have found that individuals with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience relatively high rates of anxiety and depression; however, there are few reports about social anxiety in individuals with MS.

Aim: To analyze the prevalence of social anxiety disorder and other psychiatric comorbidities in MS patients compared to matched controls.

Subjects And Methods: We included 50 patients with MS that were seen during regularly scheduled visits and 50 sex- and age-matched participants from the general population within a six-month interval. All included participants completed the Social Phobia Inventory (SPIN) and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale with 21 items (DASS-21). We defined clinically significant social anxiety symptoms as SPIN scores = 19.

Results: The MS patients' mean age was 41.9 years (54% female). The self-reported psychosocial assessments showed that MS participants were more likely to present positive social anxiety symptoms (OR = 7.37; 95% CI = 1.99-27.30; p < 0.001), depression (OR = 3.76; 95% CI = 1.41-10.10; p = 0.006), stress (OR = 2.67; 95% CI = 1.09-6.52; p = 0.029), and general anxiety (OR = 4.70; 95% CI = 1.93-11.40; p < 0.001) than the general population. There were moderate correlations between social anxiety and depression (p = 0,006), general anxiety (p = 0,001), and stress (p < 0,001) in MS patients.

Conclusions: Patients with MS had a higher risk of presenting social anxiety symptoms than a matched control group in a Hispanic population.