Background

The 12-item Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale (MSWS-12) is currently the most widely validated, patient-reported outcome measure assessing patients’ perception of the impact of multiple sclerosis (MS) on walking ability. To date, the majority of previous studies investigating the MSWS-12 have focused on the total score despite individual items being potentially informative. Therefore, our objective was to examine the associations between the individual items of the MSWS-12 and mobility and whether these associations depend on disability level.

Methods

Participants completed the MSWS-12, Two-Minute Walk Test (2MWT), Timed 25-Foot Walk (T25FW), Timed Up and Go Test (TUG) and the Four Square Step Test (FSST). Subsequently, they were divided into two groups according to their disability level, classified as either “mildly” or “moderately-severely” disabled. The correlation between individual items of the MSWS-12 and clinical measures of mobility were separately examined by Spearman's correlation coefficients; linear regression analyses were performed for each disability group, with/without adjusting for cognition, age and gender.

Results

242 people with MS (PwMS), 108 mildly and 134 moderately-severely disabled, were included. Stronger correlations between the MSWS-12 items and mobility tests were found in the mildly disabled compared to the moderately-severely disabled group. The linear regression analysis showed that in the mildly disabled, item 9 (use of support outdoors) explained 35.4%, 30.8%, and 23.7% of the variance related to the 2MWT, T25FW and TUG, respectively. As for the moderately-severely disabled, the linear regression analysis presented a model which included item 8 (use of support indoors), explaining 31.6%, 18.0%, 20.2% and 9.5% of the variance related to the 2MWT, T25FWT, TUG and FSST, respectively.

Conclusions

Items 8 and 9 of the MSWS-12 focusing on the patient's use of walking support in and outdoors, provide a robust indicator of mobility capabilities for mildly and moderately-severely disabled PwMS.

中文翻译：

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改善我们对多发性硬化步行量表12中最重要项目的理解，表明行动不便：RIMS多中心研究的次要结果。

背景

12项多发性硬化步行量表（MSWS-12）是目前使用最广泛的，患者报告的结果指标，用于评估患者对多发性硬化（MS）对步行能力的影响的感知。迄今为止，尽管个别项目具有潜在的参考价值，但迄今为止，大多数研究MSWS-12的研究都集中在总分上。因此，我们的目标是检查MSWS-12各个项目与流动性之间的关联，以及这些关联是否取决于残障程度。

方法

参与者完成了MSWS-12，两分钟步行测试（2MWT），定时25英尺步行（T25FW），定时起跑测试（TUG）和四步走步测试（FSST）。随后，根据残疾程度将他们分为两组，分为“轻度”或“中度-重度”残疾。通过Spearman相关系数分别检查了MSWS-12各个项目与临床活动性指标之间的相关性。对每个残疾组进行线性回归分析，并调整是否调整认知，年龄和性别。

结果

包括242名MS患者（PwMS），其中108名轻度残疾人和134名中度重度残疾人。与中度重度残疾组相比，轻度残疾组中MSWS-12项目与流动性测试之间的相关性更强。线性回归分析显示，在轻度残疾中，第9项（在户外使用支撑物）分别解释了与2MWT，T25FW和TUG有关的方差的35.4％，30.8％和23.7％。对于中度至重度残疾，线性回归分析提出了一个包含第8项（在室内使用支撑物）的模型，解释了与2MWT，T25FWT，TUG和TMW相关的方差的31.6％，18.0％，20.2％和9.5％。 FSST。

结论

MSWS-12的第8项和第9项着重于患者在室内和室外使用步行支撑的能力，为轻度和中度重度残疾人PwMS提供了强大的行动能力指标。