Trial reportNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2020
Combined upper limb and breathing exercise programme for pain management in ambulatory and non-ambulatory multiple sclerosis individuals: part II analyses from feasibility study.
Trial report in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.
- Exercise and Pain in Multiple Sclerosis, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, and Stroke: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Relationships between accelerometer-measured and multiple sclerosis: a 2-sample Mendelian randomization study.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2021Pooled it
- Gender Differences in the Relationship Between Fatigue, Different Types of Physical Activity, Postural Changes, and Sleep Quality in University Students-Part II Analyses from a Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Article
- Gender Differences in the Relationship between Physical Activity, Postural Characteristics and Non-Specific Low Back Pain in Young Adults.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Physiotherapy for Multiple Sclerosis Patients From Early to Transition Phase: A Scoping Review.Cureus · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe present small semi-controlled feasibility study investigated a possible efficacy of a combined upper limb and breathing exercise programme in managing pain in ambulatory and non-ambulatory patients with EDSS from 0.0-8.0.
methodPeople with MS (N = 19) were enrolled in this single-blind randomized controlled study and divided into 2 groups: exercise group (5 ambulatory, 5 non-ambulatory; Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), 1.0-8.0) and related control group that performed no exercise (4 ambulatory, 5 non-ambulatory; EDSS, 1.0-7.5). The exercise group performed combined upper limb and breathing exercises in a group led by a physiotherapist (2 days/week, 60 min/session) accompanied by independent home exercises (3 days/week, ≥ 20 min/session). Participants underwent measures of pain level (visual analogue scale) for physical pain, functional independence of daily activities (Barthel index) and handgrip strength (HGS) for dominant (D) and non-dominant (ND) hand evaluated by a dynamometer before and after the 4-week period by the blinded assessor.
resultsThe VAS for pain showed statistically significant group-by-time interaction only in non-ambulatory (p = .049) individuals, but with large intervention effects on both subgroups (ambulatory, p = .159; non-ambulatory, d = 0.97). Functional independence in daily activities (Barthel index) showed statistically non-significant group-by-time interaction in ambulatory (p = .195, d = 0.89) and non-ambulatory (p = .102, d = 1.64) individuals, but despite the absence of statistical significance, there were large intervention effects. Handgrip strength was significantly improved for both hands in ambulatory (D, p = .012; d = 2.07; ND, p = .025, d = 1.77) and only non-dominant hand in non-ambulatory individuals (D, p = .288, d = 0.83; ND, p = .012, d = 2.21).
conclusionThis small pilot study provides preliminary proof-of-concept data supporting low-intensity upper limb and breathing exercise programme for potential reduction of pain and improvement of functional independence in both ambulatory and non-ambulatory individuals with MS in a larger sample and that strengthening the upper limbs might be an additional pain relief mechanism.
trial registrationNTC03222596.
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