Physiotherapist-guided Home Exercise in Moderate to Severe MS

April 7, 2021 updated by: Katherine Knox, University of Saskatchewan

Physiotherapist-guided Home Exercise in Moderate to Severe Multiple Sclerosis

Physical activity is a crucial component to wellness and is associated with multiple health benefits. Persons with MS may find it challenging to participate in regular physical activity or exercise, which is activity done to improve health and/or fitness. This research will test an innovative web-based intervention to help persons with moderate-to-severe disability manage their condition through a maintenance exercise program with specialized physiotherapist guidance and support. The researchers will examine adherence to the web-based physiotherapy program compared to standard physiotherapy care. Forty-five people with MS will be randomly assigned to the web group or standard care group at a rate of 2:1. Participants in the web group will receive supported and individualized web-based physiotherapy. Participants in the standard care group will receive a written exercise program. Regular participation (adherence) in the exercise programs will be evaluated in both groups over six months. The research will also examine participant satisfaction with the programs, safety, MS symptoms, and physical function. A web-based approach may be widely accessible to persons with MS in their own homes and could support long-term participation in physical activity important to wellness.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

48

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Saskatchewan
      • Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, S7K 0M7
        • Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, University of Saskatchewan

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • diagnosed with MS
  • moderate to severe disability (PDDS 2-7)
  • able to access the internet in your current living environment

Exclusion Criteria:

  • already doing structured exercise more than once per week
  • residing >300km from Saskatoon (unless able to travel to Saskatoon for the appointments)
  • unable to understand the intent and process of this study

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Web-based physio group
Those in the web-based physio group will have an individual exercise program set up by a treating physiotherapist on webbasedphysio.com after an initial face-to-face assessment. They will be encouraged to undertake their exercise program at least twice per week and diarize their work. Participants will receive a weekly phone call from their treating physiotherapist for the first two weeks. The treating physiotherapist will review the exercise diary of each participant every two weeks, and remotely alter the participant's exercise program as appropriate, by changing exercises, level of difficulty or number of repetitions.
Behavioral: Physiotherapist-guided home exercise with web-based support
Those in the web-based physio group will access their exercise program online and will be able to leave messages for their physiotherapist on the platform. Physiotherapists will monitor usage and respond to messages every two weeks.
Active Comparator: Standard care group
Those in the standard care group will have their exercise program explained to them at an initial face-to-face assessment with a treating physiotherapist as per usual care. They will receive a written, home-based exercise program. Participants in the usual care group will also be encouraged to undertake their exercise program at least twice per week, and will be asked to keep an exercise diary, in paper format. Participants in the usual care group will also receive a weekly phone call from the physiotherapist for the first two weeks to check on progress.
Behavioral: Physiotherapist-guided home exercise with standard support
Those in the standard care group will receive a written, home-based exercise program. Participants in the usual care group will be asked to keep an exercise diary, in paper format.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Adherence to prescribed exercise program
Time Frame: 6 months
Measured by number of completed exercise sessions on exercise diary
6 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Injury or fall
Time Frame: 6 months
Participants will be asked to contact their treating physiotherapist in the event of new pain, injury, or fall.
6 months
Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale (MSIS29 v.2)
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Godin Leisure Time Exercise Questionnaire (GLTEQ)
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Grip strength measured on hand dynamometer
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Timed 25-Foot Walk Test
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
Timed Up and Go
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months
FIM (R) instrument
Time Frame: 6 months
The FIM (R) instrument, data set and impairment codes referenced herein are the property of Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation, a division of UB Foundation Activities, Inc.
6 months
Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale
Time Frame: 6 months
6 months

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Saskatchewan

Collaborators

Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Katherine Knox, MD, University of Saskatchewan

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

March 6, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 11, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

October 11, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 20, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 30, 2017

First Posted (Estimate)

February 1, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 13, 2021

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 7, 2021

Last Verified

April 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Bio 16-280

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Clinical Trials on Multiple Sclerosis

Clinical Trials on Physiotherapist-guided home exercise with web-based support

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Austria

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

3
Subscribe