OBJECTIVE:

To examine the effectiveness of aquatic exercise training on fatigue and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in women with multiple sclerosis (MS).

DESIGN:

Randomized controlled trial, 4-week and 8-week follow-up.

SETTING:

Referral center of a multiple sclerosis society.

PARTICIPANTS:

Women (N=32) diagnosed with relapsing-remitting MS (mean age ± SD, 32.6±8.0y) were recruited into this study. After undergoing baseline testing by a neurologist, participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention (aquatic exercise) or a control group.

INTERVENTIONS:

The intervention consisted of 8 weeks supervised aquatic exercise in a swimming pool (3 times a week, each session lasting 60min).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:

At baseline, 4 weeks, and 8 weeks, fatigue and HRQOL were assessed by a blind assessor using the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale and the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life-54 questionnaire, respectively. A mixed-model approach to repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to detect within- and between-subject effects.

RESULTS:

Findings are based on 21 patients (10 from the exercise group and 11 from the control group) who had data available on outcomes. There was no significant difference between the 2 groups at the baseline. Patients in the aquatic exercise group showed significant improvements in fatigue and subscores of HRQOL after 4 and 8 weeks compared with the control group. Results obtained from the intention-to-treat analysis were consistent with those of per-protocol analysis.

CONCLUSIONS:

The findings suggest that aquatic exercise training can effectively improve fatigueand HRQOL of patients with MS and should be considered in the management of this relatively common public health problem.