Implementing Co-innovation to Develop an Accessible, Web-Based Exercise Program for People with Multiple Sclerosis.
T Bradley Willingham, Julie F Stowell, Marina Moldavskiy and 1 others
PMID 42326597WHAT IT FOUND
No falls or other adverse events were reported across 15 people with multiple sclerosis who completed two 6-week rounds of a web-based exercise programme they helped design.
Walking endurance and mobility improved, but there was no control group.
Key findings
01No adverse events, including falls, were reported across all 15 pilot participants, and 1 participant withdrew after being lost to follow-up because of unforeseen life events.
02After the programme, six-minute walk distance rose by 20.4% on average (mean change +188 ft, P=.001), sit-to-stand time fell by 16.5% (mean change -3.54s, P=.042) and Timed Up and Go time fell by 14.9% (mean change -2.19s, P=.048), while the 25-foot walk time did not change significantly (P=.365).
03Three focus groups with 16 people with multiple sclerosis, sorted by how they moved around the community, generated the motivators and barriers that shaped the video content.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Single-arm pilot with no control group: 5 people in the first wave and 10 in the second, so nobody can tell whether the improvements in walking tests came from the exercise programme or from practice, attention or natural variation. The programme lasted 6 weeks with no follow-up, so the paper says nothing about whether people kept exercising or kept any gains afterwards. Feasibility was judged against a 50% adherence threshold the team chose from earlier exercise studies rather than a standard benchmark, and the second wave came in at 55.6% with 3 participants completing no assigned exercises at all. The authors themselves name the small sample, short duration and lack of a control group, and note that differences in digital literacy and difficulty sustaining engagement without peer or clinician contact may limit how far the results generalise. Blinding of the assessor was not possible because there was only one group, so the mobility testing was not independent of the programme. The paper's stated focus is participant feedback, feasibility and safety; the mobility results are the clinician-reported assessments reported alongside it, and the fatigue, quality of life and activity monitor data are not in this paper at all. Recruitment was through word of mouth and an existing participant database at a single centre, which narrows who these results can be applied to.
Declared interests
The authors state that the investigators have no financial or nonfinancial disclosures to make in relation to this project. No funding source is reported in the text provided.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the improvements in the walking and sit-to-stand tests as proof that the programme works. This was a single-arm pilot of 15 people with no control group over 6 weeks, and the paper's own stated focus was participant feedback, feasibility and safety, so the gains could reflect practice, attention or natural variation. The 25-foot walk test did not improve.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →