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Updated: May 10, 2026

The Treadmill Fatigue Test: A Simple, High-throughput Assay of Fatigue-like Behavior for the Mouse
Published on: May 31, 2016
Treatment of sleep disorders may improve fatigue in multiple sclerosis
Christian Veauthier1, Gunnar Gaede, Helena Radbruch
1Hanse-Klinikum, Department of Neurology, Stralsund, Germany. cveauthier@web.de
Objective:
In a previous polysomnographic cross-sectional study we found a significant relationship between sleep disorders and multiple sclerosis (MS) related fatigue. The purpose of this open follow-up observation was to compare the impact of treatment of sleep disorders on MS related fatigue measured with the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS).
Methods:
Non-randomized follow-up observation: treated versus untreated patients, subgroups according to compliance with sleep medical treatment recommendations (univariate, multivariate analysis, multiple logistic regression). 66 MS patients were followed after polysomnography, 49 patients with relevant sleep disorders and 17 without.
Results:
Mean MFIS scores decreased from 41.2 to 26.2 (p=0.025) in patients with good compliance (GC; n=18), from 42.4 to 32.1 (p=0.12) in patients with moderate compliance (MC; n=12), and from 41.6 to 35.5 (p=0.17) in non-compliant patients (NC; n=17). Mean MFIS values increased in patients without sleep disorders from 22.9 to 25.4 (NSD; n=12, p=0.56). In multiple logistic regression, treatment of sleep disorders predicted decrease of MFIS-values (GC versus NSD odds ratio 13.4; p=0.015; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7-107.2, MC versus NSD odds ratio 13.8; p=0.028; 95% CI 1.3-143.3).
Conclusions:
Sleep medical treatment may improve MS related fatigue when patients adhere to treatment recommendations.
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