Photo Credit: KatarzynaBialasiewicz
The following is a summary of “Enhancing the effect of rehabilitation on Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Clinical Trial Investigating the Impact of Remotely-Supervised Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation and Virtual Reality Telerehabilitation Training,” published in the December 2024 issue of Neurology by Pagliari et al.
Multiple sclerosis (MS), a chronic disease that affects the central nervous system by damaging the protective sheath of nerves (demyelination), often results in motor impairments, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and decreased QoL, requiring effective rehabilitative interventions for people with MS (pwMS).
Researchers conducted a prospective study assessing the effects of remotely supervised transcranial direct current stimulation (RS-tDCS) combined with a telerehabilitation (TR) program on motor, cognitive, and participation outcomes in pwMS.
They involved pwMS who were randomly assigned to one of the following groups, TR with active RS-tDCS (TR RS-AtDCS, n=20), TR with sham RS-tDCS (TR RS-StDCS, n=21), historical TR-only controls (TR, n=35), or usual care (UC, n=35). Participants received 6 weeks of TR interventions (5 sessions per week, each lasting 45 minutes), with active RS-tDCS applied during the first week (20 minutes per session).
The results showed that pwMS in the TR groups demonstrated improvements in the Mini-Balance Evaluation Systems Test (Mini-BESTest) global score (P=0.013; UC group: P=0.429, TR groups: P<0.001), anterior postural control (P=0.028; UC group: P=0.860, TR groups: P<0.001), and dynamic walking (P=0.010; UC group: P=0.269, TR groups: P=0.012), PwMS in the TR RS-AtDCS group reported greater improvements in the 12-item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) (P=0.006) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-Y) (P=0.032) compared to pwMS in the UC, TR, and TR RS-StDCS groups.
They concluded that combining TR with RS-tDCS improved motor function, perceived walking ability, and anxiety in pwMS, emphasizing the value of integrated remote interventions.
Source: msard-journal.com/article/S2211-0348(24)00832-0/abstract
