Response Heterogeneity in Fitness, Mobility, and Cognition with Exercise-Training in MS.

BACKGROUND: Exercise-training is a beneficial approach for improving function in persons with multiple sclerosis(MS). However, it is unlikely that every participant who engages in an exercise-training intervention will demonstrate similar benefits. Identifying factors that may influence the accrual of specific exercise-training benefits can aid in the development of optimized rehabilitation interventions for improving specific outcomes in MS.

OBJECTIVE: This study described possible response heterogeneity in physical fitness, mobility, and cognitive outcomes with exercise training and identified baseline performance, compliance, and demographic/clinical outcomes as possible predictors of exercise-related changes in those outcomes.

METHODS: Thirty-two persons with MS-related mobility disability completed 6-months of multimodal exercise-training. Physical fitness, mobility, and cognitive processing speed(CPS) were measured before and after the 6-months.

RESULTS: There was response heterogeneity in fitness, mobility, and cognitive outcomes with multimodal exercise-training. Low baseline aerobic fitness, slow walking speed, and slow CPS were associated with greater exercise-related improvements in those respective outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS: Those with MS-related mobility disability who have the lowest aerobic fitness, walking speed, and CPS might benefit the most from multimodal exercise-training. This provides critical evidence for informing the development of a precision medicine framework for improving targeted outcomes with exercise-training in MS. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.