Background: Walking impairment is one of the most visible and important manifestations of multiple sclerosis. MS Studies have consistently found that walking impairment occurs early during MS, and recent studies suggest that the greatest impact on socioeconomic outcomes occurs during the early stages of disability. Walking impairment is often perceived by the affected individual prior to its clinical manifestation, supporting the need for patient education and walking assessments that may be self-administered. Patient perceptions should lead to pre-emptive management strategies to maintain independence and delay the need for walking assistive devices or caregiving. Patient management should also include regular quantitative and qualitative assessments of walking by physicians or other clinicians, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, or physical therapists.
Methods: PubMed searches retrieved recent studies (November 2008 to August 2013) evaluating the contribution of walking impairment to the burden of MS.
Results: Several objective measures of walking are available, such as measures of walking speed (Timed 25-Foot Walk Test) and distance (2- or 6-Minute Walk); however, these measures may have practical considerations such as time and space. Patient-reported measures, which should have a low administration burden, include walking-specific (Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale) and health-related quality-of-life outcome assessments.
Conclusions: When used in tandem, patient-reported and objective measures can help monitor changes and facilitate patient-clinician discussions of problems, management strategies, and long-term goals related to walking impairment.
Keywords: Multiple sclerosis; assessment; burden; mobility; walking.