Lessons from a Multiple Sclerosis Feasibility Study Focused on Movement Medicine: Afolasade Fakolade, PhD

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

"Transitioning to an online mode of recruitment was challenging because of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. We had to shift our focus towards social media and multiple sclerosis support organizations for our participant engagement."

Physical activity is beneficial for all patients regardless of if they have neurological disease or not. However, research shows that patients who are impacted by multiple sclerosis (MS) and have advanced disabilities find attending regular physical activity a challenge, as do their care partners.¹ Researchers recently developed the Physical Activity Together for MS (PAT-MS), a group-based, remote-delivered, dyadic physical activity intervention for patients with MS and caregivers.

At the 2023 Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC) Annual Meeting, held May 31 to June 3, in Aurora, Colorado, Afolasade Fakolade, PhD, assistant professor at Queen’s University, presented findings from a randomized controlled feasibility trial in a rehabilitation platform session. During her presentation, she talked about the trial which was centered on the safety and feasibility of PAT-MS on both patients with MS and their caregivers.²

Fakolade sat down in an interview with NeurologyLive® at the meeting to discuss how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the recruitment strategy for the MS feasibility study. She also talked about the effect sizes in the feasibility study and the role it played in planning the future randomized control trial. Additionally, she spoke about how she recommends clinicians address the physical activity barriers faced by patients living with MS.

Click here for more coverage of CMSC 2023.

REFERENCES
1. Fakolade A, Cameron J, McKenna O, et al. Physical Activity Together for People With Multiple Sclerosis and Their Care Partners: Protocol for a Feasibility Randomized Controlled Trial of a Dyadic Intervention. JMIR Res Protoc. 2021;10(6):e18410. Published 2021 Jun 1. doi:10.2196/18410
2. Fakolade A. Physical Activity Together for Multiple Sclerosis (PAT-MS): Preliminary Results of a Randomized Controlled Feasibility Trial. Presented at: 2023 CMSC Annual Meeting; held May 31-June 3; Aurora, CO. REH04.