Abstract
Objectives
To identify steps per day in a large sample of persons with multiple sclerosis (MS)
and to describe variation by demographic and clinical characteristics and device type.
Design
Cross-sectional design.
Setting
General community.
Participants
Convenience sample of persons with multiple sclerosis (N=645) recruited from the general
community who were ambulatory and relapse free for 30 days. Mean age ± SD of the participants
was 46.3±10.6 years old. Participants were mostly women (85%), white (93%), and employed
(64%).
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measure
Step counts measured by a motion sensor during a 7-day period.
Results
The average value for the entire sample was 5903±3185 steps per day. This value varied
by demographic and clinical characteristics, but not device type, and indicated that
men, participants who were unemployed, had a high school education or less, progressive
MS, a longer disease duration, and higher disability were less physically active based
on the metric of steps per day.
Conclusions
This study provides an expected value for average steps per day among persons with
MS. Such an expected value for this population is an important first step to help
researchers and clinicians interested in improving the overall health of persons with
MS through physical activity promotion.
Keywords
List of abbreviations:
ANCOVA (analysis of covariance), CI (confidence interval), EDSS (Expanded Disability Status Scale), MS (multiple sclerosis), PDDS (Patient Determined Disease Steps)To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 18, 2013
Footnotes
Supported by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Pilot (grant no. PP 1695).
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit on the authors or on any organization with which the authors are associated.
Identification
Copyright
© 2013 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
