Abstract

Background and Purpose: Regular physical activity (PA) helps to reduce the severity of physical and mental symptoms and improves quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS). Based on current evidence and expert opinion, the recent MS guidelines recommend at least 150 min/week of PA. This study presents the results of a survey analysing whether and how PwMS met the guidelines before and during pandemic. Methods: We developed and disseminated an international online survey between December 2020 and July 2021, investigating changes in self-reported PA type, duration, frequency and intensity due to the COVID-19 outbreak in PwMS with differing disability levels. Results: Among respondents (n=3810), 3725 were eligible. The proportion of those who conducted at least one activity decreased with increasing disability level at both time-points (pre and during). Overall 60% of respondents met the guidelines before the pandemic (mild: 64.43%; moderate: 51.53%; severe: 39.34%; X2(2)=109.13, p<0.01); a reduction of ~10% occurred during pandemic in all disability groups (mild: 54.76%; moderate: 42.47%; severe: 29.48%; X2(2)=109.67, p<0.01). Respondents with higher disability participated more in physical therapy and less in walking, cycling and running at both time-points. Most respondents reported practicing PA at a moderate intensity at both time-points; frequency and duration of sessions decreased as disability level increased. Discussion and Conclusions: The percentage of those meeting the guidelines reduced with increasing disability level and during the pandemic. PA type and intensity varied widely across the disability categories. Interventions accounting for disability level are required to enable more PwMS to reap the benefits.  

Rights

This content is not covered by the Open Government Licence. Please see source record or item for information on rights and permissions.

Cite as

Pedullà, L., Santoyo-Medina, C., Novotna, K., Moumdjian, L., Smedal, T., Arntzen, E., van der Linden, M., Learmonth, Y., Kalron, A., G&#252;ng&#246;r, F., Nedeljkovic, U., Kos, D., Jonsdottir, J., Coote, S. & Tacchino, A. 2022, 'Physical activity in multiple sclerosis: meeting the guidelines at the time of COVID-19 pandemic', Journal of Neurologic Physical Therapy. https://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/12681/12681.pdf

Downloadable citations

Download HTML citationHTML Download BIB citationBIB Download RIS citationRIS
Last updated: 20 December 2022
Was this page helpful?