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Effects of Tele-Physiotherapy versus Independent Home Exer-cise on Balance and Cognitive Function in People with Multiple Sclerosis: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial

Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic neurological disease associated with balance impairments, cognitive dysfunction, fatigue, and reduced quality of life. Tele-physiotherapy interventions are increasingly used to improve access to rehabilita-tion services This pilot randomized controlled trial aimed to compare supervised tele-physiotherapy with independent home exercise combined with computer-based cognitive training. Methods: Twelve participants with multiple sclerosis aged 31–54 years (mean age 42.5 ± 7.3 years) were randomly assigned to supervised tele-physiotherapy sessions (n = 6) or independent home exercise (n = 6). The intervention lasted 12 weeks and included three weekly 45‑minute sessions. Outcome measures included the Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Activities‑Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale, Mini‑Mental State Ex-amination (MMSE), and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for fatigue and pain. Results After the intervention, the tele‑physiotherapy group demonstrated greater improvements in balance, cognitive function, fatigue, and pain compared with the independent exercise group. Berg Balance Scale scores improved by 19.6 points in the tele‑physiotherapy group compared with 9.0 points in the independent exercise group (p < 0.05). Improvements were also observed in ABC scale scores and MMSE results. Conclusions: Supervised tele‑physiotherapy combined with cognitive training may be more effective than unsupervised home exercise for improving balance, cognitive func-tion, fatigue, and pain in individuals with multiple sclerosis. Larger randomized con-trolled trials are required to confirm these findings.
DOI: 10.17605/osf.io/9rgdf
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7155489352
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