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CompletedNCT03967106MSIPC-2Updated Jan 5, 2024

RIPC on Activity, Fatigue and Gait in MS

An interventional study of Ischaemic Preconditioning and Sham in Multiple Sclerosis, sponsored by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Completed at 1 site in United Kingdom. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-01-05.

Sponsored by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
92
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study evaluates whether Remote Ischaemic Preconditioning (RIPC) can improve activity, gait and fatigue in people with Multiple Sclerosis. Half the participants will receive RIPC, the other half will receive a sham treatment.

Read the detailed description

Regular physical activity has been shown to improve physical fitness, fatigue, quality of life, and reduce the progression of disability in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). However, people with MS are less physically active than others. This is partly due to poor exercise tolerance and fatigue.

Remote Ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is the exposure of a limb to brief periods of circulatory occlusion and reperfusion by inflating pressure cuffs around arms or legs to above systolic pressures (mmHg), to protect organs against ischaemic injury. RIPC has been shown to improve exercise performance and delay fatigue in athletes. However, there is little to no research examining the effect of RIPC on walking or exercise performance in MS patients. The aim of this trial is to assess whether RIPC can improve activity, gait and reduce fatigue in people with MS.

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Conditions studied

  • Multiple Sclerosis

Keywords

  • remote ischaemic preconditioning
  • gait analysis
  • activity
  • fatigue
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In context

Multiple Sclerosis

3,460 studies on the registry are indexed under Multiple Sclerosis; 661 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 92 is above the median of 50 across 2,342 interventional studies indexed under Multiple Sclerosis.

Browse Multiple Sclerosis studies →

Lead sponsor

Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the lead sponsor of 207 studies on the registry; 26 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Diagnosis of MS as per the McDonald's criteria
  • Sufficient cognitive ability and understanding of the English language to give informed consent and complete study questionnaires
  • Ability to walk for 6 minutes without rest
  • Resting Systolic BP of more than 100mmHg
  • Resting Systolic BP of less than 170mmHg

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Cognitive difficulties or insufficient English to allow understanding of consent and study questionnaires
  • Inability to walk
  • Other systemic illness affecting exercise tolerance
  • Resting Systolic BP of less than 100mmHg
  • Resting systolic BP of 170mmHg or more
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Care provider, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
92 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Remote Ischaemic preconditioning

    Remote IPC (RIPC) intervention daily for six weeks.

    Other: Ischaemic Preconditioning

  • Sham comparator
    Sham

    Remote sham intervention daily for six weeks.

    Other: Sham

Interventions

  • OtherIschaemic Preconditioning

    IPC to the upper arm using a manual blood pressure machine with cuff. Three cycles of 5 minute cuff inflation to 30mmHg above the systolic blood pressure (BP) followed by 5 minute cuff deflation.

  • OtherSham

    Sham intervention to the upper arm using a manual blood pressure machine with cuff. Three cycles of 5 minute cuff inflation to 30mmHg below the diastolic blood pressure (BP) followed by 5 minute cuff deflation.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Change from baseline in speed of walking over a one week period

    Change in activity levels will be assessed by measuring the average speed of participants walking during the waking hours over a one week period, using a wearable activity monitor for one week before the intervention and during the final week of the 6 week intervention period.

    Time frame: 7 weeks

  2. Change from baseline in number of steps taken over a one week period

    Change in activity levels will be assessed by measuring the average number of steps taken during the waking hours over a one week period, using a wearable activity monitor for one week before the intervention and during the final week of the 6 week intervention period.

    Time frame: 7 weeks

  3. Change from baseline in length of stride over a one week period

    Change in activity levels will be assessed by measuring the average length of stride during the waking hours over a one week period, using a wearable activity monitor for one week before the intervention and during the final week of the 6 week intervention period.

    Time frame: 7 weeks

  4. Change from baseline in speed of walking during the 6 minute walk test

    Speed of walking during the 6 minute walk test will be assessed using wearable sensors at baseline and after the 6 week intervention period. The 6 minute walk test assesses exercise tolerance by assessing walking over the span of six minute.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  5. Change from baseline in Modified Fatigue Impact Scale (MFIS) Score

    A 21 item self reported fatigue scale which assess the effects of fatigue across three domains, cognitive, physical and psycho-social. Each item is scored from 0-4 (0=no effect of fatigue, 4=large effect of fatigue) yielding a total between 0 - 84.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  6. Change from baseline in Multiple Sclerosis Walking Scale 12 (MSWS-12) score

    A 12 item self reported scale which assesses the impact of MS on a patient's walking ability. Each item is scored from 1-5 (1=no impact, 5=high impact), yielding a total between 1-60 which is transformed to a percentage out of 100.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  7. Change from baseline in Borgs rating of perceived exertion scale score

    Exertion after the 6 minute walk test will be measured at baseline and following the 6 week intervention period using the Borgs rating of perceived exertion scale, a self report measure of perceived exertion ranging from 6-20 (6=no exertion, 20=exhaustion).

    Time frame: 6 weeks

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    Sheffield, South Yorkshire S10 2JF, United Kingdom
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 5, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03967106
Lead sponsor
Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Collaborators
JP Moulton Charitable Foundation
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 30, 2019
Start date
Aug 19, 2019
Primary completion
Mar 31, 2023
Completion
Mar 31, 2023
Last update
Jan 5, 2024

Study contacts

Siva Nair, MD
principal investigator · Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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This study is completed, as verified in Jan 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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