Original article
Objectively Quantified Physical Activity in Persons With Multiple Sclerosis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apmr.2013.07.011Get rights and content

Abstract

Objectives

To investigate levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) in a large sample of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) and controls using accelerometry as a measure of physical activity, and to compare the rates of meeting public health guidelines for MVPA (ie, 30min/d) between persons with MS and controls.

Design

Secondary analysis of a combined data set of persons with MS and healthy controls from 13 previous investigations of physical activity over a 8-year period (2005–2013).

Setting

University.

Participants

Participants with MS (n=800) were recruited primarily within Illinois through multiple sources, including print and e-mail flyers and an online advertisement on the National Multiple Sclerosis Society website. Healthy controls (n=137) were recruited via public e-mail postings delivered across the university community.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures

Levels of MVPA and meeting public health guidelines for MVPA between persons with MS and controls.

Results

After controlling for covariates (ie, age, sex, education, race, income), there was a moderate (d=.68) and statistically significant (F=47.2, P<.001) difference of 13.1 minutes of MVPA per day (95% confidence interval, 9.4–16.8) between MS and controls. There was a difference in the rates of meeting public health guidelines for MVPA (χ2=50.7, P<.001) between MS patients (20%) and controls (47%). Among those with MS, minutes of MVPA significantly differed as a function of education, employment status, clinical course, disease duration, and disability status.

Conclusions

We provide data using an objective physical activity measure and a large sample to indicate that only a small proportion of persons with MS are achieving adequate amounts of daily MVPA.

Section snippets

Participants

The study involved a secondary analysis performed on a combined data set of persons with MS and healthy controls from 13 previous investigations of physical activity and symptomatic, social cognitive, or QOL outcomes (the data from each investigation have been previously deidentified before consideration of amalgamation and combined analysis). The investigations involved cross-sectional, longitudinal, and randomized controlled trial designs, and we only included the baseline measure of physical

Sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the samples

The sociodemographic characteristics along with the identified differences between the samples of persons with MS and healthy controls are provided in table 2. The table further contains the clinical characteristics of persons with MS. Importantly, the median PDDS score was 2.0 (range, 0–8). This indicated that the overall sample was characterized by moderate disability (ie, no limitations in walking but significant problems because of MS that limit daily activity in other ways), with a range

Discussion

This study extends previous research on physical activity in persons with MS12, 13, 18 by providing precise and objective estimates of time spent in MVPA and the proportion of persons meeting public health guidelines for physical activity in a large sample. The primary analysis indicated that the sample of persons with MS engaged in approximately 13 minutes less MVPA per day, or approximately 1.5 hours less over the course of a week, than the healthy controls, even when controlling for

Conclusions

Overall, this study provides objectively derived estimates of MVPA in persons with MS and indicates that persons with MS are generally not accruing sufficient amounts of MVPA, as recommended by the public health guidelines for promoting health and preventing secondary conditions and comorbidities. This underscores the timeliness and importance of developing behavior interventions for increasing physical activity in persons with MS: the promotion of physical activity has been identified as

Suppliers

  • a.

    ActiGraph LLC, 49 East Chase St, Pensacola, FL 32502.

  • b.

    Microsoft, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA 98052-7329.

  • c.

    SPSS Inc, 233 S Wacker Dr, 11th Fl, Chicago, IL 60606.

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    • Cited by (0)

    Supported in part by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society (grant no. RG 3926A2/1) and the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke (grant no. NS054050).

    No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has conferred or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.

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    Copyright © 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.