Meta-Analysis of Three Different Types of Fatigue Management Interventions for People with Multiple Sclerosis: Exercise, Education, and Medication

Table 1

A summary of three types of intervention trials.

	Exercise intervention trials [25–34]	Educational intervention trials [35–42]	Pharmacological intervention trials (Amantadine or Modafinil) [43–49]
𝑁 trials included in the review	10	8	7
𝑁 samples included in the analyses	233	662	604*
ES (range)	−0.24 to 2.05	−0.16 to 1.11	−0.59 to 0.55
Pooled ES (random effects)	0.57	0.54	0.07
95% CI for the pooled ES	0.10 to 1.04	0.30 to 0.77	−0.22 to 0.37
𝑃 value	0.02	<0.001	0.63
Heterogeneity	Yes; (𝑄 = 26.39, 𝑃 = 0.003; 𝐼^2 = 65%)	Yes; (𝑄 = 14.14, 𝑃 = 0.04; 𝐼^2 = 50%)	Yes; (𝑄 = 18.66, 𝑃 = 0.004; 𝐼^2 = 67%)
Publication bias	No; (Egger bias = 5.36, 𝑃 = 0.13; Begg-Mazumdar = 0.29, 𝑃 = 0.29)	No; (Egger bias = 1.14, 𝑃 = 0.54; Begg-Mazumdar = 0.21, 𝑃 = 0.55)	No; (Egger bias = −1.54, 𝑃 = 0.57; Begg-Mazumdar = −0.24, 𝑃 = 0.38)
𝑁 trials screened for the presence of fatigue as an eligibility criterion (%)	1 (10%)	6 (75%)	7 (100%)
Most common outcome used in the trials (𝑛, %)	FSS; (6, 60%)	MFIS; (4, 50%)	FSS; (5, 71%)
𝑁 of effective trials (%)	3 (30%)	6 (75%)	1 (14%)

∗Include one trial reporting the outcome in a total cross-over sample combined together.