ArticlePilot and feasibility studies2015
Rhythmic cued motor imagery and walking in people with multiple sclerosis: a randomised controlled feasibility study.
Article in Pilot and feasibility studies, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
13 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Potential benefits of music-based therapies on rehabilitation outcomes in people with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2026Pooled it
- Which exercise and behavioural interventions show most promise for treating fatigue in multiple sclerosis? A network meta-analysis.Multiple sclerosis (Houndmills, Basingstoke, England) · 2021Pooled it
- Exploring the role of music therapy in multiple sclerosis: brief updates from research to clinical practice.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2019Pooled it
- Actual and imagined music-cued gait training for people with multiple sclerosis: a multicentre qualitative study.BMJ open · 2024Trial
- Trial
- Parkinson's disease gait rehabilitation at scale: Insights on personalised smartphone-based music cueing.PloS one · 2026Article
- Article
- Better Understanding Rehabilitation of Motor Symptoms: Insights from the Use of Wearables.Pragmatic and observational research · 2025Review
- Article
- Motor Imagery: A Resource in the Fatigue Rehabilitation for Return-to-Work in Multiple Sclerosis Patients-A Mini Systematic Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Review
- Effects of Rhythmic Auditory Cueing in Gait Rehabilitation for Multiple Sclerosis: A Mini Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Article
- CONSORT 2010 statement: extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2016Article
- CONSORT 2010 statement: extension to randomised pilot and feasibility trials.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2016 · on this mapArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundNovel physiotherapy approaches such as motor imagery and rhythmic auditory stimulation have been shown to improve walking in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Rhythmic cued motor imagery was used in this study, whose objectives were to evaluate the feasibility of a larger randomised controlled trial (RCT) in people with MS and to obtain information on walking.
methodsThirty adult people with MS who scored 1.5-4.5 on the Expanded Disability Status Scale were recruited at the MS Clinic Innsbruck, Austria. Participants were randomly allocated to one of three groups, all receiving usual care: 17 min of motor imagery, six times per week, for 4 weeks, with music (A) or metronome cues (B) and (C) controls. Primary outcomes were recruitment rates, retention, compliance, adverse events and fatigue (Modified Fatigue Impact Scale). Secondary outcomes were walking speed (Timed 25-Foot Walk) and walking distance (6-Minute Walk Test).
resultsWe achieved our recruitment target by recruiting 12 participants per month, a mean eligibility rate of 40.1 % (95 % confidence interval (CI) 35.8, 44.6 %) out of 2500 MS Centre patients, mean consent rate of 15.9 % (95 % CI 11.3, 21.7 %) plus 54.5 % (95 % CI 47.4, 61.4 %) of eligible patients who expressed their interest to participate. Retention of 100 %, no adverse events, good compliance, high acceptability of the interventions and no worsening of fatigue confirmed feasibility. The mean improvement in walking speed in both groups A and B was -0.9 s (95 % CI -1.3, -0.5), and mean worsening in group C was 0.4 s (95 % CI -0.3, 1.1). The mean improvement in walking distance in group A was 68.1 m (95 % CI 51.4, 84.7) and in group B 92.9 m (95 % CI 55.2, 130.5), and mean worsening in group C was -9.4 m (95 % CI -35.6, 16.9).
conclusionsResults from our study showed that a full-scale RCT is feasible to investigate the effects of rhythmic cued motor imagery on walking in people with MS, with no changes to the interventions and assessments. Based on the walking improvements, a total sample size of 138 participants was calculated. Stratified blocked randomisation, allocation concealment and blinding will be used in the main study.
trial registrationISRCTN: ISRCTN67054113.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.