Depressive symptoms, fatigue and the level of physical activity during perimenopause in women with multiple sclerosis

Motor dysfunctions in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS) are frequently due to muscle weakness, abnormal walking biomechanics, balance impairments, spasticity and fatigue. Since MS is typically diagnosed in young adulthood, a majority of women living with MS will undergo menopause after the diagnosis. In clinical practice, symptoms of MS and menopause can frequently overlap. The muscle weakness and fatigue also contribute to reduce the daily physical activity in women with MS. Physical inactivity further compromises the muscle function, walking ability, and thus physical fitness. The vicious cycle of decreased activity contributes to increased disability, depression and reduced quality of life. This study is the initial part of a project and therefore the sample number is small. The aim is to analyze the association between the fatigue, the depressive symptoms and the level of physical activity in 10 Brazilians perimenopause women with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis with EDSS ≤ 6.0. The depressive symptoms were assessed by Beck Depression Inventory-II. Habitual physical activity was measured by Baecke's questionnaire and fatigue was measured by the Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS). The results showed a positive correlation between fatigue and depressive symptoms (r=.831), however they did not show an association with the level of physical activity. The next step of this project is to increase the sample size to confirm these previous results and to study the longitudinal clinical assessment of different domains and their behaviors in women before and after menopause. Depression, Physical activity level, Perimenopause, Multiple sclerosis Disclosures: No conflict of interest or other disclosures to report.