Contributions
Abstract: P1653
Type: LB Poster
Abstract Category: Late Breaking News
Background and Purpose: Difficulty in walking is a major feature of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease. Approximately, three-quarters of patients experience some degree of ambulatory disabilities. Equally important, the majority of falls experienced by MS patients take place during everyday activities like walking and transferring on or off the chair. Hence, assessing physical function is important for identifying MS patients at high risk of falling. Generally, there are two main approaches to measure function: patient-reported and performance-based assessments. Patient-reported measures assess a patient"s perception of a range of functional activities while performance-based measures reflect an observer"s evaluation of a patient"s performance of specific physical tasks. The aim of the current study was to investigate the predictive ability of 4 widely used patient-reported questionnaires (i.e. activities of balance confidence (ABC), Fall efficacy scale international (FES-I), 12-items MS walking scale (MSWS-12), modified fatigue impact scale (MFIS)), as well as 5 performance-based tests (i.e. timed-up and go (TUG), timed 10-meter walk, cognitive timed 10-meter walk, 2-minute walk, cognitive 2-minute walk).
Method and Materials: Eighty-one MS patients were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. They were tracked for falls over a 6-months period following testing.
Results: A total of 37 participants recorded ≥ one falls (45.7%). The results of step wise logistic regression revealed that the final reduced model included ABC (OR= 1.13), MFIS (OR= 1.08) and MSWS (OR= 1.07) as significant fall predictors. The final model showed excellent predictive ability (area under the curve of final model was 0.98).
Discussion and conclusion: Patient-reported measures of balance (ABC), gait impairments (MSWS) as well as fatigue (MFIS) were significant fall predictors. However, performance-based tests did not predict falls in a sample of MS patients who were active and independent. Our findings support the use of the patient-reported measures as primary variables in fall identification and prevention studies.
Disclosure: nothing to disclose
Abstract: P1653
Type: LB Poster
Abstract Category: Late Breaking News
Background and Purpose: Difficulty in walking is a major feature of multiple sclerosis (MS) disease. Approximately, three-quarters of patients experience some degree of ambulatory disabilities. Equally important, the majority of falls experienced by MS patients take place during everyday activities like walking and transferring on or off the chair. Hence, assessing physical function is important for identifying MS patients at high risk of falling. Generally, there are two main approaches to measure function: patient-reported and performance-based assessments. Patient-reported measures assess a patient"s perception of a range of functional activities while performance-based measures reflect an observer"s evaluation of a patient"s performance of specific physical tasks. The aim of the current study was to investigate the predictive ability of 4 widely used patient-reported questionnaires (i.e. activities of balance confidence (ABC), Fall efficacy scale international (FES-I), 12-items MS walking scale (MSWS-12), modified fatigue impact scale (MFIS)), as well as 5 performance-based tests (i.e. timed-up and go (TUG), timed 10-meter walk, cognitive timed 10-meter walk, 2-minute walk, cognitive 2-minute walk).
Method and Materials: Eighty-one MS patients were enrolled in this prospective cohort study. They were tracked for falls over a 6-months period following testing.
Results: A total of 37 participants recorded ≥ one falls (45.7%). The results of step wise logistic regression revealed that the final reduced model included ABC (OR= 1.13), MFIS (OR= 1.08) and MSWS (OR= 1.07) as significant fall predictors. The final model showed excellent predictive ability (area under the curve of final model was 0.98).
Discussion and conclusion: Patient-reported measures of balance (ABC), gait impairments (MSWS) as well as fatigue (MFIS) were significant fall predictors. However, performance-based tests did not predict falls in a sample of MS patients who were active and independent. Our findings support the use of the patient-reported measures as primary variables in fall identification and prevention studies.
Disclosure: nothing to disclose