Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Timing in Fatigued and Nonfatigued Adults With Multiple Sclerosis.
Katie L J Cederberg, Brenda Jeng, Jeffer E Sasaki and 1 others
PMID 35063422WHAT IT FOUND
Adults with MS and fatigue took fewer steps and spent less time in moderate-to-vigorous activity than non-fatigued adults.
Both groups were most active in the morning and midday, and most sedentary in the evening. Fatigued adults maintained activity longer into the day.
Key findings
01The fatigued group took significantly fewer steps than the non-fatigued group.
02The fatigued group spent significantly less time in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity compared with the non-fatigued group.
03Both groups spent significantly more time in sedentary behavior in the evening than in the morning or middle of the day.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study design is cross-sectional, so it cannot prove that fatigue causes lower activity or vice versa. Participants with fatigue had significantly higher disability levels than those without fatigue, and the researchers did not control for this in the analysis. This means the differences in activity might be due to disability rather than fatigue alone. Fatigue was measured over the previous month, but activity was measured over only one week. This mismatch may limit how well the two compare. Only 218 of the 1000 people recruited completed the study, which may introduce bias.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that fatigue alone causes the lower activity levels seen in this study. The fatigued group also had significantly higher disability, and the researchers did not control for this, so the reduced activity may be driven by physical limitations rather than fatigue itself.