The effect of physical activity level on pain, fatigue and quality of life in patients with multiple sclerosis

In patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), it is known that while the duration of the disease and the functional constraints increase, the level of physical activity decrease and the sedentary lifestyle settle, and it's also known that they are less active than healthy individuals in the same age group. The aim of the study was to determine pain, fatigue severity, quality of life in MS patients with different levels of physical activity and to determine the effect of physical activity level on pain, fatigue severity and quality of life. The study was conducted at the Turkish Multiple Sclerosis Association on January-February 2020. 50 patients with a diagnosis of MS, who have not had an attack for at least a month, whose Extended Disability Status Scale (EDSS) score is between 1-5 and who were able to speak and understand Turkish were included in our study. After paritcipants signed the voluntary information and consent form, demographic information and responses to the surveys were recorded. Level of physical activity was assessed by the International Physical Activity Survey, fatigue severity scale and fatigue severity, and quality of life were assessed by the Multiple Sclerosis-specific quality of life scale (MuSiQoL). The average age of 50 patients (72% were female) involved in the study, was 35.2 years. It was found that 36% of the participants were not physically active, 42% had a low level of physical activity, and 22% had a sufficient level of physical activity to maintain health. According to the findings from the study, walking level, moderate physical activity and total physical activity level were negatively correlated with and fatigue severity (p<0.05). It was also found that walking level and total physical activity were negatively correlated with pain level (p<0.05). Pain level and fatigue, quality of life physical condition, symptoms and psychological status were positively correlated (p<0.01). According to our findings from the study, physical activity is an important variable in terms of components such as pain, fatigue and quality of life during MS diagnosis and treatment process, in order to control MS disease and its symptoms, to raise awareness among MS patients and it is important to direct them to personally planned physical activity programs. It is thought that long-term follow-up studies with large numbers of patients are needed in this field. Keywords: Multiple Sclerosis, Pain, Physical Activity, Quality of Life