The iStep-MS study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the iStep-MS physical activity and sedentary behaviour intervention in people with MS: A randomised controlled trial
IRAS ID
335169
Contact name
Daniel Bailey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Brunel University London
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 2 months, 31 days
Research summary
Physical activity has many benefits for people living with multiple sclerosis (MS) including improvements in physical, mental and social wellbeing. Despite these benefits, the majority of people with MS don’t do very much physical activity and spend a lot of their day sitting.
The aim of this project is to test how effective a new physical activity intervention is, called iStep-MS, for improving fatigue in people with MS.
We will do the study 190 people with MS. We will recruit participants from an MS therapy centre, a hospital and community health service. Participants will have a range of measurements taken before the intervention, then 3 and 9 months later. After the first measurements, participants will be randomly entered into the intervention group or a usual care control group.
The 95 participants in the control group will be asked to continue what they are doing. The 95 people in the intervention group will receive the iStep-MS intervention. iStep-MS will involve four physical activity consultations during the first 3 months with different healthcare staff. The consultations will be in-person or online and use techniques to change behaviour that worked in our previous study. Participants will receive the iStep-MS handbook that provides readings and tasks to do before the consultations and provides guidance on setting goals and planning when, where and how to do physical activity and reduce sitting. They will also be given a wrist-worn activity tracker to monitor their physical activity, set goals and receive reminders to move.
To test if the programme is effective we will see if the following measurements change: physical activity, steps, sitting time, fatigue, walking capability, pain and quality of life. We will also use focus groups to find out about the experiences of participants and staff delivering iStep-MS.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0272
Date of REC Opinion
29 Apr 2025
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion