Background: Recently, the reliability of the Brazilian version of the Fugl-Meyer Assessment (FMA) was assessed through the scoring

Background: Spasticity, fatigue, muscle weakness and changes in gait are some of the main motor symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). These changes can interfere with the patients’ quality of life. Objective: To characterize the motor and quality of life symptoms in patients with relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis at a specialized center. Methods: Fifty five patients at the Neuroimmunology Outpatient Clinic of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre were evaluated for fatigue (Fatigue Severity Scale — FSS), walking ability (Functional Ambulation Categories — FAC), impact of MS on walking (Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale-12 — MSWS-12), walking speed (10-Meter Walk Test — 10MWT and the Times 25-foot Walk test — T25FW), functional independence (Barthel Index — BI), functional mobility (Timed Up and Go — TUG), and quality of life (Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale — MSIS-29). Results: The patients were mostly women (69.1%), with average age of 43.3 (±12.1) years old, with time since diagnosis of 8.2 (±5.3) years, and EDSS average of 4.3 (±1.3). On the BI, the mean was 96.6 (±5.7) points and 80% of the patients had FAC 5. At MSIS-29, patients had a higher average score on the psychological scale (19.5±26.7) than on the physical scale (10.2±23.6). Most patients (69.1%) presented fatigue. Conclusion: The patients had preserved functional independence and functional walking ability and presence of fatigue. There was minimal impact of MS on patients’ quality of life.

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RESUMO A hemiparesia e a espasticidade são consequências comuns em pacientes que sofreram um acidente vascular cerebral (AVC) e delas decorre a dificuldade do paciente de movimentar o hemicorpo acometido. O objetivo deste estudo foi, assim, verificar a relação da espasticidade no membro superior (MS) com a capacidade de movimentação da mão desses pacientes, a partir de um estudo transversal de delineamento ex-post facto correlacional. Foram avaliados pacientes que realizavam acompanhamento no Ambulatório Neurovascular do Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre (HCPA). Foi preenchida uma ficha de avaliação com dados da amostra e realizada a avaliação da espasticidade do MS, por meio da escala de Ashworth modificada (MAS), e da movimentação ativa da mão, por meio da escala de movimentação da mão (EMM). Para a correlação das variáveis, foi usado o coeficiente de correlação tau de Kendall, adotando-se um nível de significação de 5% (p≤0,05). Foram avaliados 47 sujeitos de ambos os sexos com média de idade de 64,5 (±13) anos e média de tempo de AVC de 2,7 (±1,8) meses. A moda da EMM foi de 6 pontos e 74,4% dos pacientes não eram espásticos. O movimento da mão apresentou correlação significativa negativa com as musculaturas espásticas avaliadas. Houve uma correlação negativa moderada com as musculaturas peitoral (r=−0,383; p=0,007), os flexores de cotovelo (r=−0,339; p=0,016) e pronadores (r=−0,460; p=0,001), e correlação negativa alta com os flexores de punho (r=−0,588; p<0,001) e os flexores de dedos (r=−0,692; p<0,001). Concluiu-se que quanto maior o grau de espasticidade do membro superior, menor a capacidade de movimentação da mão dos pacientes.

Background: Individuals affected by Multiple Sclerosis (MS) present weakness in the lower limbs (LL), abnormal muscle tone and fatigue. Aims: To correlate the spasticity and weakness of lower limbs with fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis patients. Methods: The study is the ex post fact type with a correlational design, performed with patients MS. A total of 45 individuals were evaluated. The Modified Fatigue Impact Scale in MS (MFIS) was used to asses fatigue; the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) for lower limb (LL) spasticity and the 5-repetition sit-to-stand (5STS) test to characterize the strength of LL. Results: The mean of MFIS was 42.76 (±19.65) points, indicating the presence of fatigue among the patients and in the 5 STS-test the average was 15.37 (±5.89) which chacacterized them with decreased muscle strength. Thirtynine patients had some degree of spasticity in the lower limbs (86.66%). There was a positive correlation between fatigue and muscle strength of LL (r = 0.412 and p <0.05) and between fatigue and spasticity of adductors muscles (r =0.295) (p<0.049). Conclusions: Muscle strength of lower limbs is related to fatigue in MS patients demonstrating that the higher the muscle strength, the lower the presence of this symptom in multiple sclerosis patients.

Introduction: Among the most ordinary clinical manifestations of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are depression and the presence of Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms (LUTS). Both can compromise a person's quality of life. The objective of this research was to identify the major urinary symptoms and correlate them with quality of life and with depressive symptoms in women with MS. Methods: This was an observatory, descriptive and correlational study, with nonprobabilistic sampling by convenience. This research included women over 18 years old who displayed LUT symptoms and who had been diagnosed with Relapsing-Remitting MS. Assessment consisted of an anamnesis card, the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), the Incontinence Impact Questionnaire-7 (IIQ-7-BR), the Urogenital Distress Inventory-6 (UDI-6-BR), the Beck Depression Inventory-2 (BDI-II) and the Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Questionnaire-Portuguese version (MSQOL-54). Results: 41 women participated in the study, with average age of 50.1 (± 9.45) and average of 4.11 in the EDSS. The most common urinary symptom was urinary urgency (78%). There was no correlation between the severity of the urinary symptom and quality of life. Moderate and significant negative correlation (r =-0.561 p < 0.001) was found between depression and the physical component of quality of life and strong negative correlation (r =-0.729 p < 0.001) was found between depression and the mental component. Conclusions: The most prevalent urinary symptom was urinary urgency. A strong correlation was found between symptoms of depression and quality of life and there was no correlation between urinary symptoms and quality of life.

I n f l u ê n c i a s s o c i a i s , p o l í t i c a s , i n s t i t u c i o n a i s e i d e o l ó g i c a s

OBJETIVO: Verificar os efeitos de aulas de dança sobre a qualidade de vida de pessoas com doença de Parkinson.MÉTODOS: Nove participantes com doença de Parkinson, de ambos os sexos, foram divididos em dois grupos: experimental (GE; n=5; 70,60±8,01 anos) que receberam 15 aulas de dança, durante oito semanas; e, grupo controle (GC; n=4; 71,00±13,34 anos), o qual não recebeu intervenção e foi orientado a seguir sua rotina habitual. A qualidade de vida foi avaliada através da aplicação do Parkinson Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39), antes e após o período de intervenção. Foi realizada a comparação das variáveis entre os grupos e entre os momentos através do método de equações de estimativas generalizadas (GEE) com post-hoc de Bonferroni, adotando-se nível de significância de 0,05. Para a análise dos dados foi utilizado o software SPSS versão 22.0.RESULTADOS: Ambos os grupos apresentaram diminuição significativa na pontuação total do questionário após o período de intervenções (p=0,047). Foram encontradas diferenças significativas entre os grupos, com melhores escores no GE em comparação ao GC, nos domínios suporte social e mobilidade.CONCLUSÕES: Os resultados demonstraram melhora significativa na percepção da qualidade de vida geral após oito semanas de intervenção.