Abstract
Background: Multiple sclerosis (MS)is the most common neurological disease that causes disability in the nervous system which reduces the quality of life(QoL). Studies have shown positive effects of therapeutic exercise with supplementation on motor- and cognitive functionandfatigue as well as on QoLin persons with MS. The purpose of this study was to the effect of home-based aerobic training (AT) and vitamin D(Vit D) supplementation on fatigue and QoL in patients with MS during the covid-19 outbreak. Methods: We recruited 40 females (20 - 40 years) with MS(EDSS: 3-5). Then, using simple randomization, the subjects were assigned to four groups including aerobic training (AT; n=9; 50%-75%, 20-40 min/day, 3 days/wk aerobic training), vitamin D supplementation (Vit D; n=9; 50,000 IU one day/week), aerobic training plus vitamin D supplementation (AT + Vit D; n=10), and sedentary control (C; n=10 placebo). The data were analyzed using paired t-test and one-way analysis of variance and Tukey’s post hoc test with SPSS21 at a significance level of P < 0.05.Results: After eight weeks of intervention, fatigue grade markedly reduced in the AT + Vit D, AT, and Vit D groups); However, fatigue increased in the control group. QoLincreased significantly in AT+Vit D, AT, and Vit D compared to C. Also, the results show that the AT+Vit D had significantly higherQoL compared to AT and Vit D. Conclusion:These findings suggest that therapeutic AT and VitD supplementation is very effective in reducing fatigue and consequently improves the QoLin female MS patients.