Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2013 Fall;15(3):138-45.
doi: 10.7224/1537-2073.2012-037.

Aerobic exercise in people with multiple sclerosis: its feasibility and secondary benefits

Chad Swank  1 , Mary Thompson  1 , Ann Medley  1
Affiliations

Aerobic exercise in people with multiple sclerosis: its feasibility and secondary benefits

Chad Swank et al. Int J MS Care. 2013 Fall.

Abstract

The aims of this study were to explore the feasibility of structured aerobic exercise followed by a period of unstructured physical activity and determine the impact of such exercise on cognition, mood, and quality of life in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). A convenience sample of 9 individuals with relapsing-remitting MS performed 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (upper- and lower-extremity ergometry and treadmill ambulation) twice weekly for 8 weeks, followed by 3 months of unstructured physical activity. Eight participants completed the intervention and posttest; 6 returned for the 3-month follow-up. Cardiovascular fitness, cognition, mood (measured with the Beck Depression Inventory-II; BDI-II), and quality of life (measured with the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54; MSQOL-54) were assessed. Participants completed 27.9 minutes of exercise per session, with an 85.1% attendance rate. Evaluation using the Wilcoxon signed rank test revealed no deleterious effects and improved results on the BDI-II and MSQOL-54 mental subscale. Analysis of change scores using the one-sample t test revealed that the BDI-II and MSQOL-54 were changed from zero after structured exercise, but only the BDI-II maintained improvement after unstructured physical activity. Further analysis of BDI-II subscales revealed that improvement occurred only in the Somato-Affective subscale. In this study, program feasibility was demonstrated in several ways. There were no declines in cognitive function over the 5-month period. Despite unchanged cognitive function, participants may value the improved mood enough to continue both the structured and unstructured physical activity. The role of unstructured physical activity in concert with periodic structured exercise programs merits further investigation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Study flow diagram
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Mood and quality of life over time BDI-II, Beck Depression Inventory–II; MSQOL-54, Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life–54.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Brown T, Kraft G. Exercise and rehabilitation for individuals with multiple sclerosis. Phys Med Rehabil Clin N Am. 2005;16:513–555. - PubMed
    1. Rietberg MB, Brooks D, Uitdehaag BM, Kwakkel G. Exercise therapy for multiple sclerosis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2005;(1):CD003980. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cakt BD, Nacir B, Genc H. Cycling progressive resistance training for people with multiple sclerosis: a randomized controlled study. Am J Phys Med Rehabil. 2010;89:446–457. et al. - PubMed
    1. Rampello A, Franceschini M, Piepoli M. Effect of aerobic training on walking capacity and maximal exercise tolerance in patients with multiple sclerosis: a randomized crossover controlled study. Phys Ther. 2007;87:545–555. et al. - PubMed
    1. Castellano V, Patel DI, White LJ. Cytokine responses to acute and chronic exercise in multiple sclerosis. J Appl Physiol. 2008;104:1697–1702. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources