Effectiveness of Attention Rehabilitation on Decreasing Selective Attention Deficits in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive disease of CNS and cognitive impairment is a common concomitant of it that affects various aspects of cognitive functioning like attention and memory as well as attentional complex tasks such as selective attention. The present study investigated the effectiveness of attention rehabilitation on decreasing selective attention deficits in patients with MS. Methods: The current study was conducted with a single-subject design, A/B model, and follow-up. Six patients with secondary progressive MS (SPMS) were selected as study sample. Attention rehabilitation program comprised flash cards and pen-paper. Selective attention deficits were studied by Stroop test. Results were analyzed with visual analysis, percentage of zero data (PZD), and Cohen’s d effect size. Results: Of 6 subjects, 4 showed high effectiveness in attention rehabilitation and improved after treatment phase compared to the baseline phase, and maintained this condition during the follow-up period. The other two subjects had questionable results regarding attention rehabilitation. Conclusion: These findings suggest that attention rehabilitation can decrease selective attention deficit in patients with MS.