NCT05516537

Examining the Effects of a Remotely-delivered, Racially-tailored Exercise Training Program for Immediate and Sustained Improvements in Walking Dysfunction, Symptoms, and Health-related Quality of Life (HRQOL) Among African-Americans With Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Residing in Rural Environments.

Promotion of Exercise Behavior Among Rural-Residing African-Americans With Multiple Sclerosis

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 100 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Illinois at Chicago · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The proposed project involves a high-quality randomized controlled (RCT) design that examines the effects of a remotely-delivered, racially-tailored exercise training program for immediate and sustained improvement in walking dysfunction, symptoms, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among African-Americans with MS residing in rural environments. The primary analysis will test the hypothesis that those who are randomly assigned into the intervention condition (i.e., exercise training) will demonstrate (a) improvements in outcomes from baseline that (b) are sustained over 4-months of follow-up compared with those in the control condition (i.e., stretching).

Detailed description

There is a lack of evidence from high-quality randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise training for African-Americans with multiple sclerosis (MS), as only 1.7% of participants in physical activity and exercise research involving persons with MS identify as African-American. The population of African-Americans with MS deserves equal and focal research that addresses the unique challenges of MS in the African-American rural residing community. We uniquely address this population with a highly-developed and refined exercise training program that is racially-tailored for the target population. We further provide a highly-developed and refined exercise training program that can be undertaken in one's home and/or local community, and does not require facility access that is extremely limited in the target, rural residing population of persons with MS. The program is further tailored based on qualitative research and addresses the unique needs of the African-American community with MS. There is no other research program this advanced in study refinement and design for immediate integration into a high-quality RCT for changing the lives of African-Americans with MS who reside in rural communities of the Southeastern portion of the United States. If successful, the study, as designed, will provide Class I evidence that is necessary for immediate implementation after trial completion through insurance providers and healthcare providers, including physical therapists, rehabilitation practitioners, and community health workers/providers. This program further aligns with recently developed and highly-refined conceptual and practice models for implementation of exercise into the care of persons with MS.

Conditions

• Multiple Sclerosis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Guidelines for Exercise in Multiple Sclerosis (GEMS)	Remotely-coached/guided, home-based program delivered using telerehabilitation focusing on aerobic fitness and muscle strength as a mode of training.
BEHAVIORAL	FLEX Stretching and Toning Program	Remotely-coached/guided, home-based program delivered using telerehabilitation focusing on stretching and range of motion as the mode of training.

Timeline

• Start date: 2022-09-02
• Primary completion: 2025-12-01
• Completion: 2026-08-01
• First posted: 2022-08-25
• Last updated: 2025-09-22

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States