Comprehensive Fall Prevention and Detection in Multiple Sclerosis

Comprehensive Fall Prevention and Detection in Multiple Sclerosis

The purpose of this study is to examine whether an exercise and educational classroom program can help reduce falls in people with Multiple Sclerosis who fall frequently.

The investigators will recruit 94 people with Multiple Sclerosis, who report having fallen at least twice in the previous 2 months. Participants will be randomized to be placed in either a group that receives classroom training during the study, or into a wait-listed control group that will be offered the classroom training after their participation in the study is completed. All participants will receive mobility and quality of life assessments at baseline, 9 weeks, 5 months, and 8 months. All participants will be asked to record any falls they have on falls calendars.

In addition, 30 participants will be randomized to wear electronic fall detectors on their bodies for the duration of the study. These detectors will record when and where falls occur, and this data will be compared with the participants' self-reported falls as recorded on the falls calendars.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Multiple Sclerosis of any type,
• self-reported history of 2 or more falls in the previous 2 months,
• Expanded Disability Status Scale of ≤ 6.0 (i.e. able to walk at least 100 meters with or without a walking aid),
• be willing and intellectually able to understand and to sign an informed consent, and to adhere to protocol requirements,
• have sufficient motor function to complete a written daily record of falls for 8 months,
• be community dwelling.

Exclusion Criteria:

• have a self-reported musculoskeletal or neurological condition other than MS that is known to affect balance or gait and is associated with falls, such as a lower-extremity joint replacement within the past year, peripheral neuropathy, vestibular disorder, alcoholism, stroke, or seizures.
• be unable to follow directions in English,
• have unhealed bone fractures or other condition that may put them at risk of injury during balance training and assessments,
• blind (visual acuity corrected worse than 20/200),
• serious psychiatric or medical conditions that would preclude reliable participation in the study.