Disabled in Society - A Scoping Review on Persons Living with Multiple Sclerosis and Disability

Figures & data

Figure 1 PRISMA flow chart of the study selection process. PRISMA flow chart, visualizing the process of inclusion and exclusion of studies divided into four steps: identification of studies, screening of studies, eligibility assessment, and included studies.

Notes: Adapted from: Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, et al. PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): checklist and explanation. Annals of internal medicine. 2018;169(7):467–473.²⁴ Creative Commons.

Table 1 Descriptive Findings from the Included Articles – Top 3

Descriptive	Top 3
National source	US (n = 46)
	Australia (n = 14)
	UK (n = 10)
Number of articles by five-year period	2015–2019 (n = 34)
	2010–2014 (n = 24)
	2005–2009 (n = 18)
Population	Persons with MS (n = 71)
	Allegations from persons with MS (n = 6)
	Persons with MS and persons with another disease(s) (n = 5)
	Persons with MS, their relatives, and professionals (n = 5)
Methods	Quantitative (n = 53)
	Qualitative (n = 36)
	Mixed methods (n = 7)
Gender included	Female and male (n = 87)
	Female (n = 6)
	Not specified (n = 3)
Study area	Employment (n = 58)
	Social welfare and social services (n = 26)
	Transportation (n = 20)
Scientific field	Rehabilitation (n = 36)
	Medicine (n = 12)
	Interdisciplinary (n = 12)

Table 2 Distribution of Charted Categories Among Included Articles with Examples of Key Results

Charted category in Percent	Examples of Key Results
Employment 39%	Discrimination due to being open about MS
	Lack of accommodations at work
	Environmental inaccessibility
Social welfare and social services 18%	Economic hardship due to limited welfare benefits
	Lack of financial support for accommodations at home
	Insufficient help from social services
Transportation 14%	Lack of accessible parking
	Inaccessible public transportation
	Inconvenient transport for disabled people
Home/public place accessibility 12%	Lack of necessary accommodations at home
	Inaccessible public spaces
	Inaccessible public buildings
Health services 10%	Facing negative attitudes
	Inaccessible facilities
	Cost of services
Negative attitudes from others 7%	Misunderstandings about MS
	Staring
	Being questioned due to invisible symptoms of MS

Tricco AC, Lillie E, Zarin W, et al. PRISMA extension for scoping reviews (PRISMA-ScR): checklist and explanation. Ann Intern Med. 2018;169(7):467. doi:10.7326/M18-0850

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