Perceptions of cognitive symptoms among people aging with multiple sclerosis and their caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to examine the nature and extent of agreement on cognitive symptoms reported by people aging with multiple sclerosis (MS) and their primary caregivers and the factors associated with disagreement. METHOD: Data were generated from telephone interviews with 279 dyads of people with MS and their caregivers. RESULTS: Eighty dyads (28.7%) disagreed about the presence of cognitive symptoms in the person with MS. Disagreeing dyads were of two types: a dyad in which the person with MS indicated no cognitive symptoms, but the caregiver did (41 dyads; 14.7%), and a dyad in which the person with MS indicated cognitive symptoms, but the caregiver did not (39 dyads, 14%). Multinomial regression showed that gender and the number of years the person with MS has experienced symptoms were associated with type of disagreement. CONCLUSION: The results point to the importance of discussing cognitive symptoms with people with MS and their caregivers.