Multiple sclerosis affects the frequency content in the vertical ground reaction forces during walking.

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Biomechanics
• Gait Analysis

Background:

• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive neurological disorder frequently causing gait disturbances.
• Analyzing gait dynamics through ground reaction forces (GRF) may offer diagnostic insights for MS.
• Understanding gait frequency content can potentially improve clinical management of MS.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in the frequency content of GRF during walking in individuals with MS compared to healthy controls.
• To explore potential diagnostic markers for MS based on gait frequency analysis.
• To assess if GRF frequency content differs between mild and moderate MS severity.

Main Methods:

• Eighteen MS patients and 18 healthy controls walked on a 10-meter walkway.
• Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) analyzed the frequency domain of anterior-posterior and vertical GRF during the stance phase.
• T-tests compared median frequency, 99.5% frequency, and frequency bandwidth between groups.

Main Results:

• MS patients demonstrated significantly lower median frequency (P<0.001) and 99.5% frequency (P=0.006) in vertical GRF.
• No significant differences were observed in the frequency content of anterior-posterior GRF.
• No significant differences in GRF frequency content were found between mild and moderate MS severity groups.

Conclusions:

• Lower vertical GRF frequency in MS patients suggests reduced vertical oscillation of the center of gravity.
• The absence of severity-based differences may indicate that gait alterations occur early in MS progression.
• Frequency content analysis of GRF holds potential for earlier diagnostic assessment of MS.