Major stressors facing patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): a survey to identify their concerns and to compare with those of their caregivers.

OBJECTIVE: To identify and compare the primary existential, physical, and psychosocial stressors affecting patients with ALS and their caregivers. Health care providers, together with patients and their caregivers, are challenged to identify both physical and psychosocial concerns that have the greatest impact on quality of life over the course of a serious illness. It is also helpful to understand the priorities of these concerns from the patients' and caregivers' perspectives so that we can render optimal care and help patients and their families with the myriad problems that accompany a progressive and fatal disease.METHODS: We analyzed responses from the first 66 patients with ALS and 61 ALS caregivers who attended the Baylor College of Medicine, Department of Neurology, Vicki Appel MDA ALS Clinic and who completed our internally generated 19‐item survey. Subjects were asked to choose their three most important concerns. For analysis purposes we categorized the data into three domains: existential, ph...