Key clinical point: The correlation of muscle strength in the lower extremity and trunk with walking performance is stronger in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) having mild disability than in those having moderate disability.
Major finding: The mild vs. moderate disability group exhibited stronger Pearson correlations of muscle strength to Timed 25-Foot Walk ( P less than .001) and 6-minute walk test ( P less than .001). For Timed 25-Foot Walk, ankle dorsiflexion ( P = .002), knee extension ( P = .001), and hip abduction ( P = .046) had significantly higher beta coefficients in the mild than moderate disability group.
Study details: A cross-sectional study analyzed data of patients with MS having mild disability (Expanded Disability Status scale [EDSS], 0-3.5; n=36) and moderate disability (EDSS, 4.0-5.5; n=36).
Disclosures: Dr J Kittelson received consulting fees for work on advisory and steering committees for CPC Clinical Research, Bayer Healthcare, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, and Pfizer and for work on data and safety monitoring committees from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer, Genentech, and BioMarin Pharmaceuticals. Dr MM Mañago, J Callesen, U Dalgas, and M Schenkman declared no conflicts of interest. The study did not receive any external funding.
Citation: Mañago MM et al. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2020 Mar 13. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2020.102052