Assessing proprioceptive acuity in people with multiple sclerosis

Abstract

Background Proprioceptive acuity and impairments in proprioceptively guided reaches have not been comprehensively examined in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Objective To examine proprioceptive acuity in people with MS who self-report and who do not self-report upper limb (UL) impairment, and to determine how people with MS reach proprioceptive targets. Methods Twenty-four participants with MS were recruited into two groups based on self-reported UL impairment: MS-R (i.e. report UL impairment; n  =  12) vs. MS-NR (i.e. do not report UL impairment; n  =  12). Proprioception was assessed using ipsilateral and contralateral robotic proprioceptive matching tasks. Results Participants in the MS-R group demonstrated worse proprioceptive acuity compared to the MS-NR group on the ipsilateral and contralateral robotic matching tasks. Analyses of reaches to proprioceptive targets further revealed that participants in the MS-R group exhibited deficits in movement planning, as demonstrated by greater errors at peak velocity in the contralateral matching task in comparison to the MS-NR group. Conclusion Our findings suggest that people with MS who self-report UL impairment demonstrate worse proprioceptive acuity, as well as poorer movement planning in comparison to people with MS who do not report UL impairment.