Interaction with time is a fundamental human characteristic that varies significantly in situations of severe chronic disease. Multiple sclerosis (MS) refers to medical conditions with severe damage to the nervous system, which have poor prognosis for patients.

To explore the relation between clinical variants of multiple sclerosis and time perspective in MS patients for goals of psychological interventions.

A total of 104 MS inpatients (25 men and 79 women aged 19 to 64) filled out Russian version of Zimbardo time perspective inventory (ZTPI) developed by A. Sircova, E.T. Sokolova, and O.V. Mitina, 2008. Seventy-three patients were diagnosed for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and 31 patients for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).

Analyzing the difference in ZTPI values in MS patients one could notice that RRMS patients showed a greater focus on positive past, while SPMS patients indicated a higher priority on the future. No gender specifics were identified in MS patients with different clinical variants of the disease (P > 0.05).

The data revealed could be related to the fact that SPMS patients having more severe clinical variant of MS were forced to the issues of living with the disease planning. They were ready to assess and to prepare for possible negative consequences of the disease. They also sought the most efficient use of available resources for their own future and future of their loved ones. The resulting evidence can be used to determine clinical targets for psychological interventions in MS patients.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.