EFFECT OF COMBINED TRAINING ON MOTOR FUNCTIONS, BALANCE/BALANCE, GAIT SPEED AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

Abstract

Background: The aim of a clinical prospective study was to assess the effect of combined training on motor functions, balance skills/equilibrium, walking speed and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and at the same time to examine the interrelationships between the assessed modalities.
Material and methods: 22 patients (18 women, 4 men) with relapsing-remitting form of MS (RR MS) aged 24-66 years, with milder clinical disability (Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) ≤ 4), completed 24 therapeutic units (T.J.) of combined training for 8 weeks with a frequency of 3 times a week. We assessed motor function and balance using the POMA (Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment) and BBS (Berg Balance Scale), walking speed using the 10-meter walking test (10 mWT), and quality of life using the WHOQOL-BREF.
Results: After an 8-week intervention, we recorded a statistically highly significant improvement in the monitored parameters in the monitored group of patients (p<0.001). By analyzing the dependence of changes in the average values ​​of POMA and WHOQOL, we did not demonstrate a statistically significant correlation between the improvement of motor functions and balance assessed using the POMA test and the improvement of the quality of life of the patients.
Conclusion: The results of this study document the positive effect of combined training on the improvement of motor functions, balance skills/equilibrium and walking speed in patients with RR RS. However, it is shown that the short-term rehabilitation program does not affect the subjective perception of the quality of life in patients with RR MS with milder disability (the average value of the EDSS in the patients was 2.8 ± 0.88).