The Effects of Muscles Strength on Physical Performance in Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

Muscle weakness, which is one of the most common symptoms in patients with MS, limits the activities of daily life activities of patients by causing balance and gait disturbance. Lower extremity muscle strengths of MS patients are reported to be weaker than healthy individuals. Broekmans et al. showed that the weakness of the knee flexor and extensor muscles in patients with MS caused a decrease in walking distance and they are important determinants of walking capacity. The effects of the endurance and strength of core muscles, as well as the extremity muscles, are important on physical performance. The weakness of the extremities and core muscles in MS patients also affects the sit-to-stand performance negatively as well as a decrease in walking speed and capacity. In this study, it was aimed to investigate the effects of extremity and core muscle strength on walking and sitting-up performance of MS patients.