Preliminary efficacy of a 12-week high intensity interval training program using adaptive equipment among persons with multiple sclerosis who have walking disability

Research Objectives To examine changes in cognition, mobility, and aerobic fitness following a 12-week, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) program using a recumbent stepper (RSTEP) in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS) who have walking disability. Design Pre-post clinical trial. Setting University Research Laboratory. Participants Participants (N=17) were recruited and enrolled in the 12-week RSTEP HIIT training program who met the following inclusion criteria: age ≥18 years, self-reported diagnosis of MS, Patient Determined Disability Steps scale score 3.0-7.0, relapse free in past 30 days, willing to visit a University Laboratory for study protocol, asymptomatic status for maximal exercise testing, physician approval, and a self-reported ability to speak, read, and understand English. Interventions The intervention involved 12 weeks of supervised, individualized HIIT sessions two times per week using a recumbent stepper. The individual HIIT sessions included 10 cycles of 60s intervals at the work rate associated with 90% VO2peak followed by 60s of active recovery intervals, totaling 20 minutes plus 5-minute warm-up and cool-down periods. Main Outcome Measures Measures of cognition included the Symbol-Digit Modalities Test (SDMT) as a measure of cognitive processing speed, California Verbal Learning Test-II (CVLT-II) as a measure of verbal learning and memory, and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (BVMT-R) as a measure of visuospatial learning and memory. Mobility was measured using the 6-minute walk (6MW) test as a measure of walking endurance and timed 25-ft walk (T25FW) as a measure of walking speed. Participants completed a graded maximal exercise test for measuring aerobic fitness (VO2 peak). Results Fourteen participants completed the full 12-week HIIT training protocol, and among the eleven participants with Expanded Disability Status Scale ≥4.0 there were significant improvements in SDMT, CVLT-II, and BVMT-R (ds=1.54;0.49;0.46, respectively), 6MW and T25FW (ds=0.42;0.41, respectively), and peak VO2 (ds=0.84). Conclusions Participants with MS who had walking disability significantly improved on measures of cognition, mobility, and aerobic fitness following a 12-week individualized RSTEP HIIT training program. Author(s) Disclosures The authors declare no conflicts.