Patients with MS may have difficulty performing double task (DT) while walking or causing interference. More research is needed in order to define the role of disability degree in the severity of the interference produced in the DT.
Patients with relapsing remission MS and healthy controls (HC) were included. The study team measured clinical variables, EDSS, fatigue severity scale, and Beck Depression Inventory II. Cognitive variables considered were BICAMS battery, DT, cognitive-motor task, and motor-motor task. Differences between performance in the single task and dual task situation were evaluated.
Results indicated patients presented poorer performance than HC in cognitive-motor DT but not in motor-motor DT. Patients with EDSS> 2, presented lower performance than the controls in both types of task. The motor-motor task differentiated patients with EDSS <y> 2.
MS patients show impairment in the DT performance when the second task is cognitive. In patients with greater disability, alteration is found in both DT. Studying patient’s performance in DT allows a more ecological approach to their symptoms in order to directly intervene in daily life alterations.
