Neurodegenerative Disease (e.g. MS, Parkinson's disease)
Lifestyle Medicine
Oral Presentation
Matthew Plow, PhD
Associate Professor
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, Ohio
Marcia Finlayson, PhD, OT Reg (Ont), OTR
Director and Vice-Dean
Queen's University
Kingston, Ontario
Robert Motl, PhD
Professor and Director of Research, Department of Physical Therapy
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Francois Bethoux, MD
Director of rehabilitation
Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, Ohio
Objective:
Compare the effectiveness of telephone-delivered interventions on outcomes of fatigue, physical activity, and quality of life among adults with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Design:
A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomized to contact-control intervention (CC), physical activity-only intervention (PA-only), and physical activity plus fatigue self-management intervention (FM+). Outcomes were measured at baseline, posttest (12 weeks), and follow-up (24 weeks).
Setting :
Telephone-delivered in Midwest and Northeast regions of the United States.
Participants (or Animals, Specimens, Cadavers):
Inactive adults with MS (n=208) and moderate-to-severe fatigue.
Interventions : Three or six group teleconferences followed by four individually tailored phone calls delivered over 12-weeks. An occupational therapist and research assistant delivered the teleconferences and phone calls, respectively.
Main Outcome Measure(s):
Primary outcomes were self-report fatigue and physical activity measured with Fatigue Impact Scale and Godin Leisure-Time Exercise Questionnaire, respectively. Secondary outcomes included quality of life measured with Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale and moderate-to-vigorous exercise and step count measured with accelerometer (hypotheses: FM+ > CC and FM+ > PA-only).
Results:
Linear mixed effects models showed FM+ significantly improved self-report fatigue (β=-11.08; P=0.03) and physical activity (β=0.54; P=0.01) compared to CC at posttest. However, FM+ had non-significant differences compared to PA-only on self-report fatigue (β=-1.08, P=0.84) and physical activity (β=0.09; P=0.68) at posttest. PA-only had significant improvements compared to CC on moderate-to-vigorous exercise (β=0.38; P=0.02) at posttest and step count at posttest (β=1.30; Pβ=1.31; P=0.01). FM+ and PA-only had non-significant differences compared to CC on quality of life.
Conclusions:
Group teleconferences followed by tailored phone calls may be effective in promoting physical activity and reducing fatigue impact in people with MS.
