Table 1. Baseline characteristics of study cohort.
| Whole Group | "Mild" (EDSS 2–3.5) |
"Moderate-severe" (EDSS 4–6.5) |
p-value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| N | 76 | 49 | 27 | ||
| Age (years)1 | 47.9 (8.3) | 47.4 (8.7) | 48.8 (7.7) | 0.483* | |
| Females2 | 49 (64.5) | 32 (65.3) | 17 (63.0) | 0.838** | |
| Body mass index (kg/m2)1 | 25.1 (4.2) | 25.4 (3.9) | 24.7 (4.8) | 0.518* | |
| Status of employment2 | |||||
| unemployed | 43 (56.6) | 26 (53.1) | 17 (63.0) | 0.689** | |
| partial employment | 9 (11.8) | 6 (12.2) | 3 (11.1) | ||
| full employment | 24 (31.6) | 17 (34.7) | 7 (25.9) | ||
| Disease duration (years)1 | 11.9 (8.8) | 11.3 (9.0) | 12.9 (8.6) | 0.337*** | |
| Disease course2 | |||||
| Relapsing remitting | 46 (60.5) | 39 (79.6) | 7 (25.9) | <0.001** | |
| Secondary progressive | 13 (17.1) | 1 (2.0) | 12 (70.4) | ||
| Primary progressive | 17 (22.4) | 9 (18.4) | 8 (29.6) | ||
| EDSS3 | 3.0 (2.0–5.5) | 2.0 (2.0–3.0) | 6.0 (5.5–6.5) | <0.001*** | |
| Disease modifying treatment2 | |||||
| Treated | 40 (52.6) | 27 (55.1) | 13 (48.1) | <0.561** | |
| Untreated | 36 (47.4) | 22 (44.9) | 14 (51.9) | ||
| T25FW (meters/second)1 | 1.5 (0.6) | 1.8 (0.4) | 0.9 (0.4) | <0.001* | |
| Daily step count1 | 5258.2 (3148.1) | 6529.9 (3046.4) | 2950.4 (1696.0) | <0.001*** | |
| MSWS-121 | 43.9 (29.6) | 34.9 (24.3) | 65.0 (30.7) | 0.001* | |
| FSS1 | 4.9 (1.6) | 4.7 (1.5) | 5.2 (1.7) | 0.232* | |
| Accelerometer wear time (min)1 | 822.7 (92.9) | 824.6 (93.4) | 819.3 (93.5) | 0.987*** | |
Abbreviations: EDSS, Expanded disability status scale; T25FW, Timed 25-Foot Walk; MSWS-12; Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale-12; Fatigue Severity Scale.
Values are given as
1mean and standard deviation
2absolute number and percentage
3median and interquartile range.
Differences between walking disability subgroups were evaluated using
*independent t-test
**chi-square test or
***Mann-Whitney U test depending on normal distribution.