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Updated: Jul 3, 2026
The Multiple Sclerosis Performance Test (MSPT): An iPad-Based Disability Assessment Tool
Published on: June 30, 2014
Ratings of perceived exertion during aerobic exercise in multiple sclerosis
Elizabeth H Morrison1, Dan M Cooper, Lesley J White
1Program in Geriatrics, University of California, Irvine, School of Medicine, Orange, CA 92868-3298, USA. ehmorrison@earthlink.net
Objective:
To compare ratings of perceived exertion (RPEs) during aerobic exercise in people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and control participants.
Design:
Prospective experimental study.
Setting:
An exercise testing laboratory.
Participants:
Sedentary adults (n=12) with mild MS (Expanded Disability Status Scale score < or = 3) aged 30 to 45 years and sedentary age-matched and sex-matched controls (n=12).
Interventions:
All participants underwent a graded aerobic exercise test on a cycle ergometer with breath-by-breath gas measurements and continuous heart rate monitoring.
Main Outcome Measures:
After completing the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale, participants rated their effort sense every 30 seconds during exercise using the modified Borg 10-point scale.
Results:
The 2 study groups showed similar baseline characteristics except for higher fatigue scores in the MS group. There were no significant differences for any fitness measure, including oxygen cost slope (in VO(2) x min(-1) x W(-1)), VO(2), or work rate during exercise. Neither heart rate nor RPE--measured at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of VO(2)peak--differed between groups.
Conclusions:
Despite greater reported fatigue levels, participants with MS showed similar RPE and physiologic responses to submaximal and maximal exercise compared with controls. In MS, the Borg 10-point scale may help improve evidence-based exercise prescriptions, which otherwise may be limited by fatigue, motor impairment, heat sensitivity, or autonomic dysfunction.
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