Assessing the effectiveness of yoga, Tai Chi and aerobics on the fatigue of multiple sclerosis patients

Abstract

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, autoimmune, debilitating disease that affects the central nervous system, and the affected population is predominantly young. Over time, patients with multiple sclerosis end up developing an inability to perform physical activities, even the most basic, innate, such as walking or even coordination.Purpose: Physical recovery of patients with multiple sclerosis, in fact, recovery from fatigue is the main goal of this study, because fatigue is a prevalent factor among these individuals, producing negative effects on the physical, mental, but also on the emotional status.Method: We analyzed, from the point of view of the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale Test - 5-Item Version (MFIS-5), the level of fatigue in a group of 75 patients with multiple sclerosis, before and after a period of one month, where patients were divided into three groups and every group practiced one of the following sports activities: yoga, Tai Chi and aerobics.Results: The effectiveness of each sport was analyzed, from the point of view of the level of fatigue, having as reference the first measurement performed before the beginning of the sports programs. A significant difference in effectiveness was found in the group of patients with multiple sclerosis who used yoga.Conclusion: Our results provided evidence for the association of exercise methods that can affect beneficially the level of fatigue in multiple sclerosis patients, the most effective one being yoga.

Utilizing a learning health system to capture real‐world patient data: Application of the reliable change index to evaluate and improve the outcome of a pain rehabilitation program

“…Based on this observation, clinicians might need to consider different pain programs for people with high pain acceptance and low catastrophizing. Generally, clinicians assess treatable psychological targets like pain self-efficacy, lack of knowledge about chronic pain, fear of movement, and social support so clinicians can recommend appropriate individualized treatments targeting such variables (e.g., a single-session pain psychology, 62,63 pain neuroscience education, 64 movement-based programs, 65,66 support groups, 67 or internet-based pain programs [68][69][70][71] ). We also need to add questionnaires to assess psychological process variables such as pain self-efficacy, 60,61 psychological flexibility, 72,73 and fear of movement 74,75 before and after BIA.…”