Effect of Telerehabilitation Exercise Program on Sleep Quality and Fatigue in Individuals With Multiple Sclerosis

To examine the effect of the telerehabilitation program on sleep quality and fatigue level in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) was aimed in this study. MS is a demyelinating disease defined by various signs and symptoms that affects physical, emotional, social, and cognitive functioning. Fatigue, depression, sleep disturbance and cognitive impairment are the among common symptoms of MS.

The study implemented an individual exercise program for twice a week for 12 weeks via telerehabilitation. In the home-based video exercise group, the same exercises were given as video recordings and the patients were asked to do the exercises twice a week for 12 weeks. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS), Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Scale-54 and Timed 25 Foot Walk Test were used in the evaluation. The trial is registered with the number of NCT04979845 on ClinicalTrials.gov.

PSQI scores changed from 5.6 (2.1) to 3.66 (2.09) in telerehabilitation group (p=0.03) while no significant change were seen in the video exercise group. Similarly FSS scores decreased from 4.37 (1.42) to 3.67 (1.68) in telerehabilitation group (p=0.04) while no significant changes were seen in the video based exercise group.

The telerehabilitation program is thought to be an effective and accessible non-pharmacological application that can be used in the treatment of sleep quality and fatigue in individuals with MS.