Multiple Sclerosis
Conditions
Keywords
Exercise therapy, Aerobic training, Endurance training
Brief summary
In the last decade physical exercise has become an accepted and integrated part of rehabilitation in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, no studies have evaluated whether the most severely disabled patients can tolerate and benefit from exercise therapy. The purpose of this study is therefore to evaluate the feasibility of endurance training in severely disabled patients with MS.
Detailed description
For many years, patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) have been advised not to participate in physical exercise. This advice was given in part because some patients were reported to experience symptom instability during exercise as a consequence of increased body temperature. A further argument was that avoiding exercise would preserve energy and thereby result in less fatigue, leaving more energy for activities of daily living. During the last decade, it has been more common to recommend exercise for MS patients, because of its recently proven beneficial effects in these patients. Resistance- and endurance training constitutes the two extremes of basic physical exercise. To gain insight into the effects of exercise it therefore makes sense to understand the extremes. In mild to moderately impaired MS patients endurance training is well tolerated and providing beneficial effects. However, this exercise modality has not yet been tested in severely disabled patients, and it is therefore unclear if endurance training is feasible and beneficial in these patients. The investigators have, therefore, designed a feasibility study evaluating the effects of 4 weeks of endurance training in severely disabled MS patients (Expanded Disability Status Scale score \> 6). Patients are inpatients at one of the national MS hospitals and endurance training is added to the usual care, and compared to usual care only (control group). Exercise frequency is 3 times per week, and intensity is controlled by HR measurements during exercise.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALEndurance training
Standard care during a 4 week inpatient stay at a Danish multiple sclerosis rehabilitation center added 3 weekly sessions of endurance training for the upper extremity.
BEHAVIORALStandard care
Standard care during a 4 week inpatient stay at a Danish multiple sclerosis rehabilitation center.
Sponsors
The Danish MS Society
Danish MS Hospitals, Haslev and Ry
Aarhus University Hospital
University of Aarhus
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Signed informed consent -\>18 years * Primary progressive or secondary progressive MS according to the McDonald criteria * 6.5 ≤ EDSS ≤ 8.0 and pyramidal score between 1 and 4 * Maximal walking distance ≤ 10m
Exclusion criteria
* Patients are excluded if they: * have dementia,alcoholism, or pacemaker treatment * any serious medical comorbidities * are pregnant * have done systematic endurance training (\>1day/week) within the last 3 months. * complete less than 80% of the planned training sessions * medical conditions that exclude performance of a maximal endurance test.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Exercise compliance | Exercise compliance is registered immediatly after all planned exercise sessions during the 4 week intervention | Compliance to exercise is registered and serve as the primary outcome. |
| Drop out rate | Number of participants who drop out is registered at the post measurement just after the intervention. | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Peak oxygen consumption | 1-2 day before the intervention and 1-2days after the 4 week intervention peak oxygen is measured | Measurement of peak oxygen consumption during a ramp protocol on armergometer. |
| Box and Block test | 1-2 day before the intervention and 1-2days after the 4 week intervention the box and block test is performed | — |
| Sit to stand test | 1-2 day before the intervention and 1-2days after the 4 week intervention the sit to stand test is performed | — |
| Handgrip test | 1-2 day before the intervention and 1-2days after the 4 week intervention the handgrip test is performed | — |
| Wheel-chair test | 1-2 day before the intervention and 1-2days after the 4 week intervention the wheel-chair test is performed | — |
Countries
Denmark
Outcome results
None listed