Studies
| Study Title: | Running with Multiple Sclerosis: Feasibility of a Community Based Running Group for Mental Health |
| Rationale: | To test the feasibility of implementing a community-based exercise intervention for people with MS to help reduce mental health symptoms. |
| Study Description: |
Prior research has shown that physical activity can promote physical, psychological, and cognitive well-being in persons living with MS. Physical activity programs are linked to reductions in disease activity, chronic fatigue, and anxiety and depressive symptoms alongside improvements in cognitive performance and overall quality of life. However, existing physical activity interventions have been tested in a lab setting and/or while exercising alone. Lab-based physical activity programs are often not ecologically valid and are missing aspects of physical activity present in everyday life (e.g., social engagement, autonomy to make choices about scheduling and participation).
This study will assess the feasibility of a community-based physical activity intervention (i.e., learn to run program) for persons with MS. This study also aims to explore whether participating in the intervention can improve mental health in people living with MS. Participants: Participants will be individuals 19 years and older with relapsing remitting MS and no health contraindications to physical activity. Recruitment will take place in the Fredericton, NB and surrounding area via word of mouth, community poster boards, and social media. Interested participants can contact the research team via email (anxietylab@unb.ca) and schedule an eligibility screening phone call. Lab/Data Collection Sessions: Participants will be asked to come in for several lab sessions during the project. Lab sessions will include the completion of a self-report survey and a few short cognitive tasks, with the final lab session including a qualitative interview. The first two lab sessions will occur before the running program starts, and the final lab session will occur after the running program has finished. Participants will be compensated $15 per lab session, receiving a total of $45 if all sessions are completed. Learn to Run Program: Participants will complete an 8 week learn to run program led by members of the research team. Participants will be asked to attend an information session before the running program starts. This session is designed provide information about exercising with MS and outline the logistics of the running program. Participants will then be asked to attend two weekly group running/walking sessions, with a third weekly running/walking session to be completed independently. This exercise program is designed for beginning runners and aims to gradually increase the amount of running participants are capable of. For example, the first session will involve alternating 60 seconds of running with 90 seconds of walking for 20 minutes. Each session will work up to longer periods of running. The group sessions will take place outdoors, on the walking trails of Fredericton. Data Analyses: Data will be analyzed primarily using descriptive and qualitative methods to assess the feasibility of this program (e.g., recruitment and retention rates, participant satisfaction). Secondary aims, such as whether anxiety and depressive symptoms and cognitive functioning improve after the program will again be explored using descriptive statistics. This will be done as the research project will be conducted with a small sample size and inferential statistics would not be appropriate with such a small sample. We will disseminate results of this study through both academic conference presentations and updates to the MS community. |
| Recruitment Dates: | 2026-04-08 to 2027-04-08 |
| Who can participate: | Individuals 19 years and older with relapsing remitting MS and no health contraindications to physical activity. Please note that this study is currently only available in English. |
| Trial Institution: | University of New Brunswick |
| Trial Investigator: | Courtney Stacey, Emma Connell, & Janine Olthuis, Ph.D. | Contact Information: | anxietylab@unb.ca |
| Trial Funding: | UNB Research Start-Up Fund |