Cardiovascular comorbidities, mental health, and physical activity in persons with multiple sclerosis

This study examined the associations among cardiovascular comorbidities, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and physical activity in persons with multiple sclerosis. Participants with multiple sclerosis (N = 217) completed demographic, cardiovascular comorbidity, depression, and anxiety self-report measures, and wore an accelerometer for 7 days. We examined the bivariate, non-parametric correlations among the variables and conducted parametric, independent samples t-tests when examining the differences in variables based on cardiovascular comorbidity status. Bivariate correlation analysis indicated that there were statistically significant associations between anxiety scores, but not depression scores, and cardiovascular comorbidities. Physical activity, especially moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), was correlated with cardiovascular comorbidities. There were small significant differences based on hyperlipidemia status in anxiety scores (p = 0.015, d = -0.42), MVPA (p < 0.001, d = 0.44), and steps/day (p < 0.001, d = 0.50), and based on hypertension status in anxiety scores (p = 0.010, d = -0.35), depression scores (p = 0.046, d = -0.26), MVPA (p = 0.003, d = 0.41), and steps/day (p < 0.001, d = 0.53). The findings indicate that there are significant associations among cardiovascular comorbidities, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and physical activity in persons with multiple sclerosis. Physical activity, specifically MVPA, may be a target for managing those outcomes in persons with multiple sclerosis.