Improving Workforce Participation and Well-Being in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis - A Feasability Study

Improving Workforce Participation and Well-Being in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis- A Feasability Study

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurodegenerative disease and a leading cause of reduced workforce participation due to neurological illness in Western countries. Over the past 30 years, new treatments have reduced symptom burden, allowing patients to stay in the workforce longer. However, fatigue and cognitive impairments remain major barriers to work capacity. This project aims to preliminary examine the impact of cognitive function on work ability, and assess the role of neuropsychologists in multidisciplinary rehabilitation teams. It consists of a feasibility study evaluating the integration of neuropsychological interventions into teambased work-oriented rehabilitation. The specific research questions are:

1. How can neuropsychological interventions be integrated into team-based work-oriented rehabilitation?
2. How do these interventions relate to work ability and well-being in individuals with MS? The investigators plan to collect data on 20 consecutively patients with MS before, 6 months after and 2 years after a neuropsychological testing and intervention. The patients are being followed on measures related to well-being and work ability. Data from the neuropsychological assessment, other rehabilitation interventions as well as data related to treatment and progress of MS are also collected.

Our findings aim to enhance work-oriented rehabilitation and provide a deeper understanding of how to support individuals with MS in maintaining employment and overall well-being

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis

• Study Type: Observational
• Enrollment (Estimated): 20

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Natascha Ekdahl; Phone Number: +4626278023; Email: natascha.ekdahl@regiongavleborg.se

Study Locations

• Sweden
  • Gävle, Sweden
    • Recruiting
    • Gävle Hospital
    • Contact: Natascha Ekdahl; Phone Number: +4626278023; Email: natascha.ekdahl@regiongavleborg.se

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients of working age with MS in Region Gävleborg who are refered for a neuropsychological assessment and who are not suffering from other diagnosis which impact their work ability to a large extent.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Multiple sclerosis Age between 18-65 Refered to neuropsychological assessment at the Neurology departement at Gävle Hospital -

Exclusion Criteria:

Other diagnosis hindering work participation more than MS

-

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Number of groups / cohorts

1

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Patients with multiple scleroris of working age; Patients with MS and of working age (18-65) referred to neuropsychological evaluation.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Work participation	Percentage of full-time work. 100 % full-time work and 0% is not working at all.	From baseline to 2-year follow-up
Hospital anxiety and depression scale	Self-assessment of anxiety and depression. Consists of two scales measuring the probability of having anxiety and depression respectively. Min score 0, max 21 for each scale. Higher scores indicate higher probability of anxiety/depression.	From baseline to 2-year follow-up
WHO-5 Well-Being Index	Overall rating of well-being. The WHO-5 score range is a raw score of 0-25, which is then multiplied by 4 to get a percentage score of 0-100. Higher score indicates higher well-being.	From baseline to 2-year follow-up
Brief index of job satisfaction	The Brief Index of Affective Job Satisfaction (BIAJS) has a score range of 1 to 5 for each of its four items, based on a 5-point Likert scale where 1 is "strongly disagree" and 5 is "strongly agree". The total BIAJS score is the sum of these four items, resulting in a possible range from 4 to 20, with higher scores indicating greater affective job satisfaction.	From baseline to 2-year follow-up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Quantative work demands	Questions from the subscale "Quantitative demands" of the Copenhagen Psychosocial Questionnaire (COPSOQ-III) related to the demands of work. The COPSOQ-III uses Likert-like scales, and its items are coded with values of 0, 25, 50, 75, and 100 to achieve a 0-100 scale. Higher scores indicate more demands.	From baseline to 2-year follow-up
Can-Work-S	Three questions from a questionnaire developed to measure work-life balance after cancer. Each item ranges from 1 to 5 with higher scores indicating worse work-life balance.	From baseline to 2-year follow-up

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Region Gävleborg
• Collaborators: University of Gavle

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 22, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): September 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 22, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): February 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): February 2, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2026
• Last Verified: January 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Nervous System Diseases; Autoimmune Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Demyelinating Autoimmune Diseases, CNS; Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System; Demyelinating Diseases; Multiple Sclerosis
• Other Study ID Numbers: MSCogWork3

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO
• IPD Plan Description: To comply with the conditions set by the ethical review board, individual participant data (IPD) cannot be shared with other researchers. However, aggregated data are available upon reasonable reques

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No