The impact of teach-back education on the understanding of disease, severity of fatigue, and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis referred to the MS

Determining the effect of teach back education on disease perception, fatigue severity and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

A two-group, randomized, controlled clinical trial with 60 patients.

This study is a randomized controlled clinical trial involving 60 patients with multiple sclerosis, which will be conducted in 1404 (2025-2026) at Besat Hospital in Hamadan. Thirty patients in the intervention group will receive four days of teach back education on the disease process, follow-up, and treatment, while the control group will only receive routine care and standard education.

Inclusion criteria: Not having any mental disorders under treatment, ability to speak Persian, having a score between 2 and 6 on the expanded disability status scale, having multiple sclerosis for at least one year as diagnosed by a neurologist. Exclusion criteria:The occurrence of any severe physical or mental disorder during the study,patient's reluctance to continue cooperating to participate in the study

Intervention Group: Patients will receive individual, teach back-based training over 4 sessions (every other day, each session lasting at least 30 minutes) on the disease process, treatment follow-up, fatigue reduction, and improvement of physical function. After each session, patients will restate the content in their own words. One month later, fatigue and illness perception questionnaires will be completed, and two months later, after a phone call and coordination, the quality of life questionnaire will be completed during an in-person visit to the MS association. Control Group: Only routine care will be provided, and no specific intervention will be conducted.

Quality of life, fatigue severity, perception of illness

For randomization, four random blocks method is used. For this purpose, four sheets of paper are prepared. The letter A (intervention) is written on two sheets and the letter B (witness) is written on the other two sheets. The sheets are mixed together and removed by the researcher consecutively without placing them. This process is repeated for the number of qualified patients and whether each patient is group A or B is recorded.