Effectiveness of memory rehabilitation in people with MS

People with MS often struggle with memory problems, which can lead to difficulties in everyday life.

Memory rehabilitation is offered to help enhance the ability to perform everyday activities and to increase independence by reducing forgetting. This can involve the use of specific techniques and strategies to change the way a person tries to remember, store, or retrieve memories. However, it is unclear whether memory rehabilitation is effective in reducing forgetting or improving performance of activities in daily life, and there are few good-quality studies that have investigated the effectiveness of memory rehabilitation in people with MS.

Researchers from Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, UK, reviewed 15 studies with 989 participants involving various types of memory retraining techniques, some using computer programs or memory aids such as diaries or calendars.

The review showed some evidence to support the use of memory rehabilitation in people with MS. However, the measures used in the studies were abstract and did not reflect people’s daily life, and the groups who did and did not receive memory rehabilitation did not differ in terms of their subjective reports of memory problems or mood. There are still relatively few large, good-quality studies to base these findings on, so more are needed.

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