Is There Any Relationship between Upper and Lower Limb Impairments in People with Multiple Sclerosis? A Kinematic Quantitative Analysis

Background In people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), disability is generally assessed on the basis of ambulation abilities, whereas upper limb motor dysfunctions are less frequently considered. Nevertheless, they can severely affect the quality of life of pwMS. To date, it remains mostly unknown whether a relationship exists between upper and lower limb impairments. Aim To investigate the existence of a relationship between upper and lower limb impairments in pwMS based on two fundamental motor tasks, namely walking and hand-to-mouth (HTM) movement. Methods Twenty-eight pwMS with Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores in the range of 1–6, and 21 healthy controls (HC) underwent a kinematic analysis of gait and HTM movement performed with a motion capture system. The spatiotemporal parameters for the two tasks were calculated and correlated using Spearman's rank correlation coefficients. Results The pwMS performed worse than HC on both tasks. Small to large correlations were found between the total HTM movement duration and most of the gait parameters (rho, 0.35–0.68; p < 0.05). Conclusions Both upper and lower limb motor abilities in pwMS worsen as disability increases. Nevertheless, their relationship is only moderate. This finding emphasizes the need for specific tests to quantify disability considering the overall motor function in pwMS.