Multiple sclerosis and anxiety: Is there an untapped opportunity for exercise?

Anxiety symptoms and anxiety disorders are prevalent and burdensome, yet poorly managed in multiple sclerosis (MS). Indeed, anxiety disorders occur in 22% of people with MS, and anxiety can negatively impact physical function, cognition, and quality of life. Currently, there are no treatment guidelines available for anxiety in MS, based on limited information regarding the efficacy of pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy. Exercise training may be a promising avenue for treatment of anxiety in MS, and this is based, in part, on a wealth of evidence in the general population of adults. This review provides an overview of anxiety and evidence from meta-analyses and systematic reviews for current treatments options in the general population and MS. We further make a case for exercise as a novel treatment approach that requires focal examination in persons with MS.

We conducted a scoping review of available research, including systematic reviews and meta-analyses, on anxiety and its prevalence, predictors, consequences, and treatments in MS. We then noted limitations with existing evidence regarding treatment options, and then provided a backdrop based on evidence from the general population for the novel proposition of exercise as treatment of anxiety in MS.

Pharmacotherapy and psychotherapy treatments of anxiety may be efficacious, but come with significant limitations, especially for persons with MS. Exercise is a promising novel avenue for treatment of anxiety in MS, and has a positive side-effect profile.

Anxiety is under-investigated and poorly treated in MS. There is a paucity of evidence for the relationship between exercise training and anxiety in MS, but the evidence in the general population supports the urgent need for systematic examination of the efficacy of exercise in treating anxiety symptoms and disorders in persons with MS.