Computer-Based Rehabilitation of Cognitive Impairments in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system, which leads to demyelinating lesions in brain and spinal cord and further neurodegeneration. It results in manifestation of motor, cognitive and neuropsychological symptoms, which can occur simultaneously or independently of each other. Approximately 2/3 of peoplewithMSsuffer from cognitive impairment which lead to deteriorated quality of life. In unison with the global world tendencies, for the first time in Bulgaria a com-puter system Rila Cogni Soft for assessment and rehabilitation of cognitive im-pairment has been developed. The system is composed of 3 modules: 1) electronic record of demographic and clinical data; 2) module for assessment of the cognitive status and 3) module for rehabilitation of the registered cognitive impairment. The rehabilitation training programs are developed on the basis of established international standards. Based on the affected cognitive domains and degree (severity) of damage, the therapist administers individual rehabilitation programs. Using the system, we create our own norm (based on results from 70 healthy persons) for each of the diagnostic tests. A statistically significant difference (p < 0.05) in the level of cognition was found between healthy controls and individuals with MS (n = 23). InterCriteria Analysis was used to study the relationships between the degree of cognitive impairment and clinical features. Improved cognitive functions were registered after 3-month period of rehabilitation (p > 0.05).