Introduction. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic demyelinising disease with numerous clinical signs, such as: balance and coordination disorders, visual disturbances, muscle weakness, paresis, feeling of chronic fatigue, mood disorders, genitourinary dysfunction, spasticity and paresthesias. Aim. Analysis of the influence of sociodemographic factors on the quality of life of patients with multiple sclerosis. Material and methods. The research covered 105 patients and was conducted at St. Luke´s Regional Hospital and in the Multiple Sclerosis Association in Tarnow in 2015. The criterion for inclusion was medical diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and the voluntary consent of the patient to participate in the research. The study used: the EQ-5D (Health related quality of life questionnaire), the EQ-VAS (EuroQol-visual analogue scale), the EDSS (Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale ) and the authors’ original questionnaire. Results. High self-esteem regarding their own health condition and higher quality of life in all dimensions were shown more often by people with full functional efficiency (p <0.0001). The research analysis showed that 65.7% of the people reported no problems in terms of self-care. Younger people significantly more frequently had no problems with mobility (p = 0.0006), self-care (p = 0.0328). Also, anxiety or depression were less frequent among them (p = 0.0022). People with higher education were less likely to feel pain / discomfort (60.9%). Conclusions. Self-assessment of the quality of life of the respondents depends significantly on age, marital status, education and the source of livelihood.

Key words: multiple sclerosis, quality of life.