Dual-Task Performance in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Overview

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease affecting the central nervous system. It is reported that 85% of patients with multiple sclerosis have gait disturbance, 88% balance, and 35-90% fatigue (1, 2, 3). In addition, 65% of patients are reported that their cognitive functions have regressed (4). It is important to increase the independence of the MS patients in activities of daily living (ADL). Almost all of ADL requires many activities at the same time. For example, toothbrushing involves both the standing balance and the motor activity of the upper limb at the same time. It also requires cognitive tasks such as attention and focusing. Many activities that seem to be the only task are actually multitasking (5). The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of motor and cognitive additional task on balance, mobility and upper limb performances in MS patients and to determine the factors associated with dual-task performance.

Patients with MS between 0-5,5 score according to the Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and healthy individuals of similar age and sex to patients will be included in the study. The balance, mobility, upper extremity performance, cognitive function, fatigue, physical activity level, mood, sleep quality, quality of life will be evaluated once. We will use descriptive statistics and t-tests to compare demographic characteristics between groups and for the categorical variables chi-square. Effect of the group (MS patients or healthy controls), condition (Single task and dual-task conditions), and group × condition interaction will be compared using two-way repeated measures ANOVA. We will examine the correlations between fatigue severity, physical activity level, mood, sleep quality, quality of life using Pearson bivariate correlations. The significance level is set at p\<0,05.

Conditions