Short-Term and Long-Term Effects of an Exercise-Based Patient Education Programme in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Study

Table 3

RCT outcomes in walking ability, QoL, fatigue, and self-efficacy for immediate ePEP group and waitlist-control group at baseline (T0), after six-week ePEP (T1).

Variable	EG-I ()			EG-W ()			Difference between groups
	T0; mean ± SD; median (IQR)	T1; mean ± SD; median (IQR)	Change from T0-T1; mean (%); median (IQR)	T0; mean ± SD; median (IQR)	T1; mean ± SD; median (IQR)	Change from T0-T1; mean (%); median (IQR)	-score	Effect size
TUG (s)	7.8 ± 1.8; 7.8 (6.2–9.4)	7.2 ± 1.6; 7.0 (6.0–8.3)	0.5 (+7.1); 0.2 (−0.0–1.5)	7.8 ± 1.6; 6.9 (6.1–8.5)	7.2 ± 1.2; 6.7 (5.6–7.7)	0.6 (+8.1); 0.5 (0.3–0.9)
6MWT (m)	483.2 ± 89.7; 488.1 (399.1–541.5)	496.1 ± 128.4; 501.0 (396.1–568.3)	−12.9 (+2.7); −21.5 (−38.2–11.6)	526.0 ± 117.5; 477.6 (393.4–620.9)	530.5 ± 153.8; 532.2 (448.2–639.0)	−4.5 (+0.8); −17.0 (−37.4–34.7)
FGA (score)	19.5 ± 4.0; 20.5 (15.5–21.8)	25.4 ± 3.7; 25.5 (23.5–28.8)	−5.9 (+30.1); −6.0 (−8.0–4.0)	20.7 ± 6.6; 25.5 (17.8–28.5)	23.3 ± 6.9; 28.0 (21.8–30.0)	−2.7 (+12.9); −2.5 (−4.0–−0.8)
MusiQol (score)	68.1 ± 10.6; 69.2 (60.6–75.6)	77.2 ± 11.4; 79.5 (66.0–86.2)	−9.1 (+13.4); −9.8 (−15.8–−0.4)	70.0 ± 7.8; 74.9 (49.8–83.4)	74.6 ± 11.5; 75.1 (62.9–84.4)	−4.6 (+6.5); −5.6 (−9.8–−0.6)
WEIMuS (score)	26.0 ± 17.7; 28.5 (6.5–40.3)	22.1 ± 15.5; 22.0 (7.3–34.0)	3.9 (+14.9); 2.0 (−4.0–11.5)	21.3 ± 6.1; 15.5 (12.5–29.0)	18.8 ± 9.2; 11.5 (9.5–19.3)	2.5 (+11.7); 0.0 (−4.8–9.5)
Mental fatigue (score)	10.5 ± 10.2; 6.0 (1.3–22)	9.5 ± 8.4; 9.0 (1.0–16.0)	1.0 (+9.5); 0.0 (−1.0–1.8)	8.8 ± 3.9; 7.0 (2.8–10.5)	7.5 ± 2.3; 8.0 (5.5–9.3)	1.3 (+15.1); 1.0 (−2.5–5.0)
Physical fatigue (score)	15.5 ± 10.0; 19.0 (4.0–22.8)	12.6 ± 8.3; 12.5 (5.8–20.0)	2.9 (+18.5); 1.0 (−3.0–10.3)	12.5 ± 5.8; 6.5 (4.5–9.5)	11.3 ± 8.4; 7.5 (4.8–22.0)	1.2 (+9.3); −1.5 (−3.5–7.5)
SSA (score)	4.7 ± 0.7; 4.9 (4.4–5.3)	4.2 ± 0.8; 4.45 (3.8–4.7)	0.5 (−10.8); 0.2 (−0.1–1.5)	4.4 ± 1.3; 4.6 (2.9–6.2)	4.6 ± 1.8; 4.5 (3.4–6.4)	−0.2 (+3.4); 0.2 (−0.7–0.4)

Note. Positive percentage values indicate improvements and negative percentage values indicate declines; -scores were taken from results of Mann–Whitney test; effect size r was computed using formula /square root of ; denotes statistically significant difference between changes of scores of the groups () for exact value of Mann–Whitney test (two-tailed). EG-I: immediate ePEP group; EG-W: waitlist-control group; T0: baseline measurements; T1: measurements after six-week ePEP; SD: standard deviation; IQR: interquartile range (25th–75th); TUG: Timed-Up-and-Go-Test; 6MWT: Six-Minute-Walk-Test; FGA: Functional Gait Assessment; MusiQol: Multiple Sclerosis International Questionnaire of Quality of Life; WEIMuS: German MS-specific fatigue questionnaire—lower values indicate fatigue improvement; SSA: scale for self-efficacy towards physical exercise.