Participation restriction in people with multiple sclerosis: prevalence and correlations with cognitive, walking, balance and upper limb impairments

Objective To calculate percentage of participation restrictions according to disability level in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and to assess relationship between participation restriction, and cognitive, gait, balance and upper limb deficits. Design Cross sectional study Setting Rehabilitation unit Participants 105 people with MS and 20 healthy subjects (HS) were screened in Belgium and Italy. Interventions Not applicable Main outcome measures The Community integration questionnaire was used to assess participation in Home, Social and Productive Activities. Percentages of people with MS scores lower than the 10th percentile of those of HS were calculated for each sub scale to categorize the persons with participation restrictions. Cognitive deficits (Symbol Digit Modalities Test), walking disability (25-foot walking test / EDSS), balance disorders (Bohannon Standing Balance Test) and manual dexterity (Nine Hole Peg Test), were recorded. Results 77% of participants showed participation restrictions, which increased with higher EDSS scores from 40% (EDSS5.5). Social participation was more restricted than home integration with less than 20% of participants doing shopping for groceries alone. Cognitive deficits were more highly associated (r=0.60) with participation restrictions than balance (r=0.47), gait (r=-0.45) and hand dexterity (r=0.45) limitations. Conclusions Participation restrictions are present in MS and increase with disability level. However, the results also show that multiple sclerosis does not restrict participation in all domains. Participation restriction at home is less restricted compared to social participation. Cognitive disorders are more associated to participation restrictions than physical limitations