A cross-sectional study on fear of progression in patients with myasthenia gravis

Abstract

Abstract Patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) are prone to resulting in a significant psychological burden. This study aims to investigate the condition of fear of progression (FoP) and identify factors associated with FoP among MG patients. This cross-sectional study included 83 patients with MG admitted to the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from January to November 2024. Data were collected through clinical records and questionnaires, including demographic details, disease duration, comorbidities, current drug regimen, and the fear of progression questionnaire-short form (FoP-Q-SF). The simplified fear of progression scale score for 83 MG patients was 31.36 ± 10.22. Among these participants, 38.6% exhibited dysfunction FoP. There was no significant difference concerning age, marital status, course of the disease, crisis of MG, STAI score, and TAI score in the total score of fear of disease progression in MG patients. However, gender, progress of MG and MGFA classification were positively correlated with the fear of progression (P < 0.05), which was statistically significant. Furthermore, gender and disease progression were identified as factors influencing FoP in MG patients (P < 0.05). FoP among MG patients varies according to their socio-demographic and clinical characteristics. Gender and progress history of MG are associated with Fop.