Assessing proprioceptive acuity in people with multiple sclerosis

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.