Acute effects of axial loading on postural control during walking and turning in people with multiple sclerosis: A pilot study.
Casey Little, Connor Moore, Emily Bean and 3 others
PMID 35259637WHAT IT FOUND
Weighted vests did not change gait in the main analysis.
People with MS and controls walked faster in some vest trials, and some changes remained after removal. The pattern may reflect practice or attention.
Key findings
01The main analysis found no significant overall effect of the weighted vest and no interaction between MS status and vest weight.
02In the MS group, cadence and gait speed were higher in some vest trials than in the first no-weight trial, and were 3.5% and 6.5% higher from the first to the last no-weight trial.
03Healthy controls also showed faster cadence and gait speed in several weighted and last no-weight trials, so the within-group changes were not specific to MS.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
This was a small pilot convenience sample, so the results may not represent people with MS. The sample was mostly middle-aged with mild to moderate walking impairment and moderate fear of falling, so it says little about more severely affected people. The study measured only immediate walking and turning, not falls or daily function. Participants walked at a comfortable self-selected pace, which may have been too easy to reveal differences between vest weights. Improvements from the first to the last no-weight trial could reflect warm-up, attention, or practice rather than the vest. The small sample prevented repeated-measures analysis, so the statistical approach was limited. Healthy controls showed similar within-group increases, so the changes were not specific to MS.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest and no relevant financial disclosures. The article is tagged as NIH extramural research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that weighted vests improve walking in MS. The overall vest comparison was null, controls showed similar increases, and changes after the vest was removed may reflect warm-up or attention.