Comparison of the Effect of Eight-Week Aquatic, Land- Based and Combined Aquatic- Land Exercise Program by Using the Burdenko Method on Pain and Quality of Life in Women with Multiple Sclerosis (MS)

unpleasant sensory pain associated with tissue, and Neurological pain in MS is related to the central nervous system. The quality of life is also a multidimensional intrinsic factor that affects a person's physical and mental condition. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of eight weeks of exercise in water, land, and the combination of water and land by the Burdenko method on pain and quality of life in women with MS.

In the present clinical trial study, 31 women with MS in the age range of 30-50 years and EDSS < 4.5 were divided into three groups in different training environments by the Burdenko method for 12 weeks. Pain rate was measured by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and quality of life was measured by the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36). The results of the Kruskal- Wallis test at the error level of 0.05.

Our findings showed no significant difference between the three training intervention groups in the pre- test in the variables of pain and quality of life (P > 0.05). In order to investigate the effectiveness of exercises in reducing pain and increasing the quality of life in different training environments, before and after comparisons were made. The paired Wilcoxon test showed that in each training group, there was a significant decrease in pain and a significant increase in quality of life compared to the pre-test (P < 0.05). Also, post- test demonstratedthat there is no significant difference in pain and quality of life between the three types of training environments using the Kruskal- Wallis’s test (P > 0.05).

All of these training environments including water, land, and water-land combined, can be effective in reducing pain and increasing the physical and mental quality of MS patients. Also, there is no significant difference between various training environments, and patients could benefit from any training environment available for them.