The effectiveness of complex therapy of suicidal behavior in schizophrenia

Background. The relevance and clinical and social need for this study is determined by the fact that to date, no comprehensive therapy and prevention of suicidal behavior (SB) has been developed in patients with schizophrenia from the area of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO). Objective – to analyze the features of positive and negative syndromes by using the PANSS scale before and after complex therapy in people with schizophrenia who in the past had suicidal behavior. Materials and methods. 266 people aged 22 to 50 years were selected with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, who in the past had suicidal behavior. 136 people with suicidal behavior in schizophrenia who were treated in 2014-2016 constituted the main group (МG). The control group (CG) constituted 130 people with suicidal behavior in schizophrenia who were examined in 2006-2013. Results. In order to improve care for patients with suicidal behavior in schizophrenia who have been living in the ATO zone, we proposed an algorithm for the treatment process, which included a comprehensive and phased provision of medical and social assistance. In addition to standard care using clinical protocols, we have introduced a comprehensive approach taking into account the gender characteristics of patients with schizophrenia with suicidal behavior. Integrated author’s therapy was carried out at the inpatient and outpatient stages. Treatment measures were aimed both at the patients with schizophrenia with suicidal behavior, and at their relatives. After the treatment, we analyzed dynamics of positive, negative and psychopathological syndromes according to the PANSS, compared the results obtained before and after therapy. It was found that the main number of results that have a significant difference in МG and CG, relates to general psychopathological symptoms, which were identified as markers. Conclusions. The highlighted markers of positive, negative and psychopathological syndromes, that reduce the quality of life and lead to impaired social functioning, underwent positive changes when introducing a model of comprehensive measures to help patients with suicidal behavior in schizophrenia.

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The effects of breathing exercises on respiratory functions, functional capacity and quality of life in vehicle spray painters

International Journal of Therapy and Rehabilitation ◽

10.12968/ijtr.2021.0092 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 (12) ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Burak Yilmaz ◽

Cagtay Maden ◽

Begümhan Turhan

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Functional Capacity ◽

Control Group ◽

Study Group ◽

Breathing Exercises ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

Respiratory Exercises

Background/aims Workers engaged in vehicle spray painting are at a risk of developing respiratory problems because of the solvents in the spray paints. Changes in respiratory functions and functional capacities caused by spray painting can be improved with respiratory exercises. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of respiratory exercises on the respiratory functions, functional capacity and quality of life in vehicle spray painters. Methods A total of 70 volunteers with similar characteristics participated in the study. The groups were divided into two groups randomly (35 study group, 35 control group). Respiratory functions (value of forced expiratory volume percentage in 1 second [FEV1]), forced vital capacity percentage [FVC], FEV1/FVC percentage, peak expiratory flow percentage [PEF (%)] and maximum voluntary ventilation percentage [MVV (%)]), functional capacity (6-Minute Walk Test) and quality of life (Short Form Health Survey [SF-36]) were evaluated. The study group undertook supervised breathing exercises 3 days a week for 6 weeks. The same exercises were given to the control group as a home programme. Home programmes were followed up by telephone calls. Evaluations were performed again after 6 weeks. Results In the study group, FEV1 (%) increased more than in the control group (P<0.05). The increase in PEF (%) was similar in both groups (P>0.05). In the study group, FEV1/FVC (%) and MVV (%) were significantly different before and after the intervention (P<0.05), but there was no difference in the control group (P>0.05). There was a greater increase in the study group than in the control group (P<0.05). 6-Minute Walk Test distance (m) before and after the intervention in both groups were similar (P>0.05). Before and after the intervention, a significant difference was found in the vitality and the social function domains of the SF-36 in the study group. In the comparisons of groups, a significant difference was found in the study group in the role-emotional, social function and bodily pain domains of the SF-36 after the intervention (P<0.05). Conclusions Breathing exercises can be recommended for vehicle spray painters to avoid an increase in respiratory resistance and to improve their quality of life.

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The Impact of Cataract Surgery on Vision-Related Quality of Life and Psychological Distress in Monocular Patients

Journal of Ophthalmology ◽

10.1155/2021/4694577 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-7

Author(s):

Xuepei Li ◽

Jianqiang Lin ◽

Zidong Chen ◽

Guangming Jin ◽

Danying Zheng

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Cataract Surgery ◽

Control Group ◽

Self Rating ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

Related Quality ◽

The Impact

Purpose. To determine the changes in vision-related quality of life and psychological distress after cataract surgery in monocular patients and to compared these with a control group of age- and gender-matched binocular patients. Methods. We enrolled 40 monocular patients and 40 binocular patients who underwent cataract surgery from August 2017 to December 2018. All participants undertook eye examinations and answered questionnaires (the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire, Self-rating Anxiety Scale, and Self-rating Depression Scale) before and after cataract surgery. Result. The monocular patients had significantly worse mean CDVA than the binocular patients before and after surgery. However, there was no significant difference between the increases gained by the two groups. Mean composite VFQ-25 scores of the monocular group were significantly lower than those of the binocular group before and after surgery, but the improvement experienced by the monocular group was statistically larger than the binocular group (37.20 ± 12.84 vs. 19.11 ± 5.13, P < 0.001 ). Mean standard SAS scores of monocular patients were significantly higher than those of binocular controls before and after surgery, while monocular patients experienced a significant greater decline of SAS scores (−9.41 ± 5.39 VS −3.84 ± 1.61, P < 0.001 ). Mean standard SDS scores of the monocular group were significantly higher than those of the control group before and after surgery, but the monocular group experienced a significantly greater decline of SDS scores following cataract surgery (−11.91 ± 6.38 VS −4.78 ± 1.79, P < 0.001 ). There was a significant correlation between the preoperative logMAR CDVA and both the postoperative logMAR CDVA (r = 0.63, P < 0.001 ) and the changes in the logMAR CDVA (r = −0.881, P < 0.001 ) for monocular patients. Linear regression analyses suggested that higher postoperative VFQ-25 scores had significant associations with better preoperative CDVA and the absence of systemic comorbidity (both P < 0.05 ). Age and ocular comorbidity were significantly associated with postoperative SAS scores (both P < 0.05 ). Age and systemic comorbidity remained significant impact factors for SDS scores (both P < 0.05 ). Conclusion. Monocular patients reported greater improvement in vision-related quality of life and greater decline in the level of anxiety and depression than binocular control subjects, despite having similar CDVA gains after cataract surgery. We argue that it is not a better choice for monocular patients to delay cataract surgery until the cataract is very advanced. A clear understanding of the impact of cataract surgery on vision-related quality of life and psychological distress in monocular patients is needed by ophthalmologists when making surgery decision.

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AB0114 INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECTS OF EXERCISE ON MIRNA EXPRESSIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS

Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases ◽

10.1136/annrheumdis-2021-eular.1369 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽

pp. 1086.1-1086

Author(s):

Z. B. Özcan ◽

F. S. Karaahmetoğlu ◽

M. Z. Çiraci ◽

H. H. Pençe ◽

M. Vural ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rheumatoid Arthritis ◽

Disease Activity ◽

Peripheral Blood ◽

Mononuclear Cells ◽

Control Group ◽

Peripheral Blood Mononuclear ◽

Sf 36 ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After

Background:The goal of treatment for patients with RA is achieve to remission, or at least a state of low disease activity. Exercise is recommended for patients with RA in addition to drug therapy. It has been found to be effective in greatly improving functionality and reducing cardiovascular risk without exacerbating disease activity. Therefore, it is recommended that all RA patients should be encouraged to include aerobic and resistant exercise training as part of their routine treatment (1).miRNAs(miRNA) are known to protect the pathophysiological process specific to RA. miRNA-146a is one of the miRNAs extensively studied in RA, its expression was found to be higher in the synovial fluid and synovial tissue of RA patients compared to healthy individuals (2).Many studies have found that miRNA-146a, along with miRNA-16 and miRNA155 may be related to disease pathology. It has also been found that high levels of miRNA-16 expression correlate with active disease and low levels of expression with inactive disease. It has been found that the increased level of miRNA-155 causes a problem in the modulation of arthritis It has been found that the expression level of miRNA-145 is increased in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of RA patients and synovium supporting osteoclastogenesis (3,4,5).Objectives:It is aimed to investigate the effect of exercise on microRNA expressions in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).Methods:30 patients and 30 healthy controls aged 18-60 years who met the 2010 ACR / EULAR RA criteria were included in the study. A program consisting of strengthening and stretching exercises 2 days a week was applied to the study group for 8 weeks. One day a week, 30 minutes of mild moderate walking was requested. Of the cases at the beginning and at the end of the treatment; 5-10 cc peripheral blood samples were taken into one EDTA tube. Then Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) was used for pain, 28-joint Disease Activity Score (DAS28) was used to calculate disease activity, Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) was used to assess general health and Short Form-36 (SF-36) was used to evaluate quality of life. 5-10 cc peripheral blood samples were taken to only 1 EDTA tube of the control group. In the samples taken, gene expressions of miRNA-146a, miRNA-155, miRNA-16, miRNA-145 were determined by real-time PZR method.Results:There was a significant difference in DAS28, SF-36, NRS, HAQ scales before and after treatment in the RA group of patients (p 0.05). The expression level of MiRNA-146a does not differ significantly before and after treatment (p> 0.05). However, these two groups differ significantly with the control group (p 0.05). No significant difference was observed in the miRNA-155 and miRNA-16 expression levels in the pretreatment, posttreatment, and control groups (p> 0.05).Conclusion:Exercise therapy has a good effect on pain, disease activity, quality of life and general health in patients with RA. It has been found that exercise can affect vii some of the miRNAs involved in disease pathogenesis. However, more comprehensive studies are needed.References:[1]Cooney JK, Law RJ, Matschke V, Lemmey AB, Moore JP, Ahmad Y, et al. Benefits of exercise in rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Aging Research. 2011. p. 14.[2]Abou-Zeid A, Saad M, Soliman E. MicroRNA 146a expression in rheumatoid arthritis: Association with tumor necrosis factor-alpha and disease activity. Genet Test Mol Biomarkers. 2011;15(11):807–12.[3]Murata K, Yoshitomi H, Tanida S, Ishikawa M, Nishitani K, Ito H, et al. Plasma and synovial fluid microRNAs as potential biomarkers of rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Arthritis Res Ther. 2010;12(3):86.[4]Pauley KM, Satoh M, Chan AL, Bubb MR, Reeves WH, Chan EKL. Upregulated miR-146a expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from rheumatoid arthritis patients. Arthritis Res Ther. 2008;10(4):101.[5]Evangelatos G, Fragoulis GE, Koulouri V, Lambrou GI. Micrornas in rheumatoid arthritis: From pathogenesis to clinical impact. Autoimmun Rev. 2019;18(11):102391.Disclosure of Interests:None declared

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Effectiveness of a Malaysian Media Intervention Workshop: Safe Reporting on Suicide

Frontiers in Psychology ◽

10.3389/fpsyg.2021.666027 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Jane Tze Yn Lim ◽

Qijin Cheng ◽

Yin Ping Ng ◽

Kai Shuen Pheh ◽

Ravivarma Rao Panirselvam ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lived Experience ◽

Suicidal Behavior ◽

Negative Impact ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Control Group ◽

Media Content ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

The Media

Background: Suicide remains an important cause of premature deaths and draws much media attention. However, unsafe reporting and portrayal of suicides by the media have been associated with increased risk of suicidal behavior. Current evidence suggests that media capacity-building could potentially prevent suicide. However, there are still knowledge gaps in terms of a lack of data on effective strategies for improving awareness and safe reporting of suicide-related media content. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a workshop conducted with members of the media community on the safe reporting of suicide-related content.Methods: An interventional single-arm pre and post pilot study was conducted on a sample of the Malaysian media community recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. The media safe reporting workshop was conducted by a suicide prevention expert with a media industry background. Thirty participants completed a self-reported evaluation questionnaire on their awareness and knowledge of reporting on suicide-related media content; before and after the interventional workshop.Results: There was a significant difference between the total scores before and after the intervention, with a large effect size. Post-intervention scores were significantly improved in 8 items, namely those related to the reporting of: (i) the content of any suicide note; (ii) headlines with methods of suicide; (iii) headlines with the location of suicide; (iv) cases of suspected suicide despite the unconfirmed cause of death; (v) suicide news to cater to readers’ interests; (vi) cause of suicide; (vii) details of the location of suicide; and (viii) the negative impact to media community when reporting suicide stories. In particular, there was an improvement in the majority of items for people from the media community with no lived experience of suicidal behavior.Conclusion: The media safe reporting workshop is a potentially effective intervention for improving awareness and knowledge measures relating to safe reporting on suicide among the media community, with a more pronounced effect in those without lived experience of suicidal behavior. Limitations in the sample size, generalizability, short-term evaluation, and lack of a control group warrant future larger, longer-term controlled, and more representative studies.

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Pengaruh Terapi Murottal Al Qur�an terhadap Kualitas Tidur Lansia di Unit Rehabilitasi Sosial Dewanata Cilacap

Jurnal Keperawatan Soedirman ◽

10.20884/1.jks.2016.11.3.710 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 168

Author(s):

Sasongko Priyo Dwi Oktora ◽

Iwan Purnawan

Keyword(s):

Intervention Group ◽

Simple Random Sampling ◽

Control Group ◽

P Value ◽

Quality Of Sleep ◽

Exclusion Criteria ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

And Control

<em>One of Elderly problems is a bad quality of sleep. Sircadian Rhythme change in elderly is caused by the decreation of serotonin production. The murottal Al Qur’an Therapy use a rhythmical and harmonious melody so that it can stimulates serotonin productions. So it is one of therapy that probably solve elderly bad quality of sleep. The study aim to identify the effect of murottal Al Qur’an therapy on elderly quality of sleep. This study used quasi experiment design. Simple random sampling applied to 40 respondents that divided into two groups, intervention and control group. Quality of sleep was measured with PSQI. Inclusion criteria were good hearing respondent, 60 till 80 years old, and wanted to follow this research. Exclusion criteria were mental health diseae, smooking and used sleep medications.Statistic analysis with paired t test showed that there was a significant difference between before and after gived murottal Al Qur’an therapy in intervention group (p value = 0,000 : α = 5%). But the other side there was no significant difference between before and after observation in control group (p value = 0,083).. It conclouded Murottal Al Qur’an therapy is effective to increase eldery quality of sleep.</em>

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EFFECT OF NANDA-I, NIC, AND NOC DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM TRAINING ON QUALITY OF NURSING CARE DOCUMENTATION IN THE PERINATAL WARD OF YOGYAKARTA REGIONAL PUBLIC HOSPITAL

Belitung Nursing Journal ◽

10.33546/bnj.770 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 5 (5) ◽

pp. 180-191

Author(s):

Enny Eko Setyaningrum ◽

Intansari Nurjannah ◽

Anik Rustiyaningsih

Keyword(s):

Nursing Care ◽

Public Hospital ◽

Nursing Intervention ◽

Control Group ◽

Nursing Documentation ◽

Documentation System ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Before And After ◽

Quality Of Nursing

Background: The existing standard of nursing language consists of NANDA-I for diagnostic language standard, Nursing Intervention Classification (NIC) for nursing intervention, and Nursing Outcome Classification (NOC) for nursing outcomes. One way to improve the quality of nursing care documentation is to provide training in the documentation system.Objectives: To determine the effect of providing NANDA-I, NIC, and NOC (NNN) nursing care documentation systems training on the quality of nursing documentation.Methods: This was a pre-experimental study with pretest posttest design without a control group. Twenty-one nurses and eighty-six Medical Records (MR) of patients who were treated in the perinatal ward of Yogyakarta Regional Public Hospital were used as samples selected using purposive sampling. Those nurses were trained in the nursing care documentation system. The quality of nursing care documentation was measured using modified Quality of Diagnoses, Interventions and Outcomes (Q-DIO) instrument. Data were analyzed using Independent samples t-test with a confidence level of 95%.Results: The average of the scores of the quality of nursing documentation before training was lower (1.91) than the average after training (2.78). There was a significant difference in the quality of nursing documentation before and after training (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Training of NNN nursing documentation system could improve the quality of nursing documentation in the perinatal ward of Yogyakarta Regional Public Hospital.

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COMPARISON OF THE QUALITY OF LIFE OF PATIENTS IN THE LOCALY ADVANCED BREAST CANCER FORMS AFTER SYSTEM AND INTRALYMPHATIC POLYCHEMOTHERAPY

EUREKA Health Sciences ◽

10.21303/2504-5679.2018.00693 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 4 ◽

pp. 3-13

Author(s):

Yuriy Dumanskiy ◽

Oleksandr Bondar ◽

Oleksandr Tkachenko ◽

Evhenii Stoliachuk ◽

Vasilii Ermakov

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Quality Of Life ◽

Locally Advanced ◽

Developed Countries ◽

Control Group ◽

Preoperative Treatment ◽

Discrete Elements ◽

Important Indicator ◽

Significant Difference

In recent years, breast cancer (BC) is the most common cancer pathology and the most common cause of disability among women in developed countries. Finding the most effective ways of interaction between the patient and the doctor creates the preconditions for the necessary analysis of the treatment process from an objective and subjective point of view. Therefore, an important indicator to be taken into account is the quality of life of a patient. To compare the indicators of a comprehensive assessment of the quality of life of patients to the adverse locally advanced forms (LA) of breast cancer before and after systemic intravenous polychemotherapy (SPCTx) and selective endolymphatic polychemotherapy (ELPCTx) in neoadjuvant mode. The study was conducted on the basis of a random analysis of outpatient cards from 112 patients with LA BC T4A-DN0-3M0 who received a comprehensive antitumor treatment on the basis of the Donetsk regional antitumor center and the University Clinic of the Odessa National Medical University from 2000 to 2017, which was proposed a questionnaire at various stages of preoperative treatment. The first (control) group consisted of 65 patients (58 %) with inoperable forms of LA BC, which was performed in neoadjuvant mode by SPCTx. The second (study group) included 47 patients (42 %) with inoperable forms of LA BC, which was performed as a neoadjuvant course ELPCTx. According to the integral indicators of quality of life and quality of health between patients in the control and study groups, there was no statistically significant difference. In a detailed analysis of the indicators of symptomatic scales, the difference between the groups did not exceed the critical. Based on the results of a study conducted among patients receiving endolymphatic chemotherapy in a neoadjuvant mode, the subjective evaluations of treatment in absolute numbers have better reference values without statistical superiority. The study of the integrative indicator of quality of life and its discrete elements is an ergonomic and economical means of heuristic assessment of the health of patients in order to further develop more rational and convenient ways of solving urgent issues of modern oncology by increasing compliance and finding a compromise between the physician and the patient.

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The influence of the Kinesio Taping on selected ultrasonography measurements, and quality of life in patients with rotator cuff lesions

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-020-75701-6 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Aneta Bac ◽

Magdalena Wróbel ◽

Katarzyna Ogrodzka-Ciechanowicz ◽

Edyta Michalik ◽

Anna Ścisłowska-Czarnecka

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Rotator Cuff ◽

Statistical Significance ◽

Control Group ◽

Subacromial Space ◽

Kinesio Taping ◽

Significant Difference ◽

Rotator Cuff Lesions ◽

Significant Change

Abstract The assessment of the six-week influence of Kinesio Taping combined with a rehabilitation on selected ultrasonography measurements, the level of disability, and the quality of life in patients with rotator cuff lesions. 60 participants were randomly assigned into a taping group (KT combined with a six-week rehabilitating protocol) and a control group (only rehabilitation protocol). In all patients the following assessments were performed twice: USG, UEFI and NHP questionnaires. In the examination of the subacromial space and the subacromial bursa in the taping group, no statistical significance was observed. A statistically significant change in the thickness of the muscles was obtained only for the thickness of the infraspinatus in the taping group. A statistically significant change was obtained in the assessment of tendinopathy only for the supraspinatus muscle in both groups. Within both groups a statistically significant difference was observed in the average UEFI and NHP scores; however, the differences in the scores obtained between the groups were not statistically significant. The use of KT with a rehabilitation program did not yield statistically significantly better results in the improvement of selected shoulder region indicators, the function of the upper limb and the quality of life.

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Effect of mobile guided cardiac rehabilitation on quality of life – the EU-CaRE randomised clinical trial

European Heart Journal ◽

10.1093/ehjci/ehaa946.3105 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 41 (Supplement_2) ◽

Author(s):

V Houben ◽

J.A Snoek ◽

E Prescott ◽

N Mikkelsen ◽

A.E Van Der Velde ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Quality Of Life ◽

Elderly Patients ◽

Cardiac Rehabilitation ◽

Control Group ◽

Funding Source ◽

Multi Centre Study ◽

Old Patients ◽

Home Based ◽

Significant Difference

Abstract Background and purpose Although participation in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) improves quality of life (QoL), participation in CR, especially among elderly, is limited. We conducted this study to assess whether mobile home-based CR (mCR) increases QoL in elderly (≥65 years old) patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) or a valvular intervention who decline participation in conventional CR. Methods It is designed as a randomised multi-centre study with two parallel arms. Randomisation assigned patients either to mCR or a control group. mCR Consisted of six months of home-based CR with telemonitoring and coaching. Control-group patients did not receive any form of CR throughout the study period. Quality of life was measured with the SF-36v2 questionnaire at 0, 6 and 12 months. Results A total of 179 patients were included in this study (90 control, 89 mCR). A flowchart of the trial is presented in Figure 1. Patients were predominantly male (81.1%). Baseline characteristics can be found in Table 1. Patients using mCR improved on physical QoL after 6 (p=0.026) and 12 (p=0.008) months. There was no difference on mental QoL for both groups (mCR 6 months p=0.563, 12 months p=0.945; control 6 months p=0.589, 12 months p=0.542). No difference existed in QoL between the mCR and control group (physical: 6 months p=0.070, 12 months p=0.150; mental: 6 months p=0.355, 12 months p=0.625). Conclusion Although there is no significant difference in QoL between the control and mCR group, mCR increases physical QoL after 6 and 12 months in elderly patients who decline participation in conventional CR. Therefore E-Health tools should be considered as an alternative for conventional CR when (elderly) patients decline to participate in conventional CR. Figure 1. Flow chart of all eligible patients Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding source: Public grant(s) – EU funding. Main funding source(s): European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme

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Robot-Assisted Gait Training in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis: A Randomized Controlled Crossover Trial

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57070713 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (7) ◽

pp. 713

Author(s):

Cristiano Sconza ◽

Francesco Negrini ◽

Berardo Di Matteo ◽

Alberto Borboni ◽

Gennaro Boccia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Crossover Trial ◽

Gait Training ◽

Treatment Session ◽

Control Group ◽

Walk Test ◽

Robot Assisted ◽

Randomized Controlled ◽

Gait Parameters ◽

Before And After

Background and Objectives: Gait disorders represent one of the most disabling aspects in multiple sclerosis (MS) that strongly influence patient quality of life. The improvement of walking ability is a primary goal for rehabilitation treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of robot-assisted gait training (RAGT) in association with physiotherapy treatment in patients affected by MS in comparison with ground conventional gait training. Study design: Randomized controlled crossover trial. Materials and Methods: Twenty-seven participants affected by MS with EDSS scores between 3.5 and 7 were enrolled, of whom seventeen completed the study. They received five training sessions per week over five weeks of conventional gait training with (experimental group) or without (control group) the inclusion of RAGT. The patients were prospectively evaluated before and after the first treatment session and, after the crossover phase, before and after the second treatment session. The evaluation was based on the 25-foot walk test (25FW, main outcome), 6 min walk test (6MWT), Tinetti Test, Modified Ashworth Scale, and modified Motricity Index for lower limbs. We also measured disability parameters using Functional Independence Measure and Quality of Life Index, and instrumental kinematic and gait parameters: knee extensor strength, double-time support, step length ratio; 17 patients reached the final evaluation. Results: Both groups significantly improved on gait parameters, motor abilities, and autonomy recovery in daily living activities with generally better results of RAGT over control treatment. In particular, the RAGT group improved more than control group in the 25FW (p = 0.004) and the 6MWT (p = 0.022). Conclusions: RAGT is a valid treatment option that in association with physiotherapy could induce positive effects in MS-correlated gait disorders. Our results showed greater effectiveness in recovering gait speed and resistance than conventional gait training.

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