Telerehabilitation vs Supervised Exercises in MS

Effectiveness of Structured Exercise Program on Quality of Life and Activities of Daily Living in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis: Telerehabilitation vs Supervised Program

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex neurodegenerative autoimmune disease. People with MS (PwMS) have low quality of life (QoL) and activities of daily living (ADL). Exercise is a safe and effective rehabilitation tool for PwMS. A structured and personalized exercise program can improve physical fitness, functional capacity, quality of life and modifiable disorders in PwMS. On the other hand, Telerehabilitation is an alternative rehabilitation method in PwMS. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of exercise programs and telerehabilitation on ADL and QoL in PwMS, and compare the effects of supervised exercise and home-based exercise programs for the PwMS.

Participants are randomly assigned to the structured supervised exercise or structured home-based groups. Interventions in Group 1 (n=15) includes one session per day, 3 days a week over a 12-weeks structured exercise program under the supervision of a physical therapist. Group 2 (n=15) includes a 12-week structured home-based exercise program checked and controlled through telerehabilitation three times a week. All measurements pre-post intervention.

Inclusion Criteria:

patients with:

1. Stable period at the time of application to the clinic
2. Expanded Disability Status Scale Levels between 2 - 6.5
3. Appropriate cognitive level to understand the exercises
4. No diseases to affect their participation in exercise programs

Exclusion Criteria:

patients with:

1. Poorly controlled diabetes, hypertension or other medical conditions to be incompatible with study participation,
2. A new history of previous attacks
3. No reliable informed consent