Effects of 8 Weeks Antigravity Swing Exercise on Functional Ability of Walking and ‎Upper Body in Multiple Sclerosis Women with Moderate Disability

One of the main problems of patients with multiple sclerosis is decreased ability to walk, coordination and also muscle weakness caused by neuromuscular disorders which leads to limitations in upper and lower functions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of suspended swing exercises on gait and upper performance in patients with multiple sclerosis. Therefore, the present study will examine the effects of 8 weeks antigravity swing exercises on multiple sclerosis female patients in patient with moderate disability.

18 patients with multiple sclerosis with mean age of 36.55±3.74 years, mean height of 164.66± 4.01 cm and weight of 66.48 ±6.32 kg and 13 patients with mean age of 34.37±82.4 years, height 166.76±91.4 cm and weight 66.66±6.32 kg were included. Both groups had a disability index of 4.5 ≤EDSS≤6.5. They were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. The experimental group performed suspended swing exercises in the club for eight weeks and the control group performed their normal daily activities without any restrictions and in accordance with the physiotherapy interventions of the relevant physician.

According to the results, the functional ability of the upper limb is related to the study of patient's performance in four testing times (p=0.001). Also, a significant difference was observed in walking performance between the four test times (p=0.001). There was a significant difference between the experimental group and the control group in both upper and lower limb function (p=0.001).

Considering the effectiveness of antigravity, swing exercises can be used as a clinical intervention to rehabilitate and improve neuromuscular factors in multiple sclerosis patients with moderate disability. According to the measurement of patient's progress at 4th week until 8th week in this study, the onset of effectiveness of the training protocol can be determined to a large extend by considering the patient's disability.