Proximal Muscle Resistance Training to Improve Walking in People With Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study.
Mark M Mañago, Jeri E Forster, Eliza Biondi and 3 others
PMID 39589358WHAT IT FOUND
For people with MS who could walk without an assistive device, a proximal strengthening program using in-person, virtual, and home exercise was feasible and acceptable.
Walking endurance and strength improved, but daily steps did not.
Key findings
01Feasibility criteria were met except enrollment: 26 of 28 enrolled participants were retained, supervised visit adherence was 86.5%, and no serious intervention-related adverse events occurred.
02Following intervention, 6-minute walk distance increased by 29.6 m, and hip abduction strength on the more affected side increased by 3.9 kg.
03Average daily step count changed minimally at post-intervention and follow-up.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
There was no control group, so improvements cannot be separated from natural variation or other changes over time. This was a pilot, not an efficacy trial; the main aim was feasibility and acceptability. Enrollment missed the target: only 28 of 40 planned participants enrolled. The sample was small and not diverse: participants were mostly Caucasian and non-Hispanic. Participants had to walk at least 100 m without an assistive device and were excluded if they could complete the 25-foot walk in under 4.5 seconds, so the study says little about people with more severe walking limitation. During the 12-week follow-up, participants exercised independently without tracked adherence, and remote follow-up did not measure muscle or walking performance. No exit interviews were done, so barriers and facilitators to the blended program were not explored.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflict of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the walking and strength gains as proof the program works. This was a small pilot without a control group, and the main aim was feasibility and acceptability.