The effect of fatigue on balance in multiple sclerosis patients

Fatigue and balance problems can be seen on the patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and these problems affect the life standards of the patients negatively. This study is conducted to research the effect of fatigue on balance on the patients with MS. The study includes the patients at the age of 20 to 60, definitely diagnosed as patients with MS, have not had a seizure in the last month or are not in the period of seizure, and excludes patients with systemic disorders such as cardiac, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, and the patients have anaclasis, amputation, congenital problems, spinal problems, severe cognitive deterioration, severe miscommunication. After recording the demographic information of the individuals, fatigue is determined by using "Fatigue Severity Scale" (FSS) and "Fatigue Impact Scale" (FIS). Balance is determined by using "Berg Balance Scale" (BDI), "Tinetti Balance Scale" (TBS), and "Tinetti Gait Scale" (TGS). Neurological deficit level is determined by "Expanded Disability Status Scale" (EDSS). The study is conducted on a group of 50 people with average age of 36.98±9.74 years, disease period of 6.10 ± 4.35 years (at least 1 year ? at most 17 years). The study discovers that there is a significant but low correlation between ?FIS?, and ?BDI? and ?TGS?. There is no statistically significant correlation between ?FSS? and the balance scales. The findings of the study show that there is a significant but low correlation between fatigue and balance. The results of this study show that there is a correlation between fatigue and balance and give rise to thought that the removal of fatigue may improve balance. Long term studies need to be conducted to determine precisely the correlation between fatigue and balance on the patients with MS.