Upper limb dysfunction in people with early-stage Multiple Sclerosis: Perceived performance can be misleading.

BACKGROUND

Although the necessity of upper limb (UL) (dys)function assessment in people with Multiple Sclerosis (pwMS) has been demonstrated in recent years, this is still neglected at an early-stage.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of our study was to comprehensively examine bilateral UL in early-stage pwMS who are thought to have no or minimal involvement in activities of daily living for the UL.

METHODS

UL muscle strength, sensation and dexterity of 44 pwMS (EDSS score<4, disease duration<5 years, who did not report problems in daily living activities specifically for the UL) were evaluated bilaterally and compared with 44 healthy controls (HC). The relationship between UL function and muscle strength, sensation, cognitive function, fatigue, mood status, participation, EDSS, and disease duration were examined. The results of the outcome measures evaluating the UL function objectively and subjectively were analyzed.

RESULTS

Muscle strength, sensation and dexterity were similar in the dominant and nondominant extremities of pwMS and were affected compared to HC. A fair relationship was found between UL function and proximal muscle strength, fatigue, cognitive function, home participation and EDSS. According to the cut-off value (18 s) of Nine Hole Peg Test, only 9.09% of pwMS was unaffected, but 79.54% of affected pwMS had a full ABILHAND score.

CONCLUSION

Early-stage pwMS are unaware of the dysfunction since their UL involvement does not affect their daily living activities yet. Patient-reported outcome measures such as ABILHAND can be misleading and have a ceiling effect in the early-stage of the disease. Objective functional evaluations reveal that UL capacity is affected from the early period. Even if pwMS do not report UL involvement, clinicians and researchers should evaluate UL function and include it in the treatment program from an early-stage to prevent further disease burden.