ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT07918339Updated Nov 5, 2026

Virtual Reality Versus Mental Practice On Balance And Gait In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis

An interventional study of Mental Practice and Virtual Reality in Multiple Sclerosis, sponsored by Cairo University. Recruiting at 1 site in Egypt. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 35 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-05.

Sponsored by Cairo University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Mar 2026; still recruiting 8 months later.
Updated Nov 5, 2026Newly registeredGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
54
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
20 Years to 35 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study is conducted to:

  • Investigate the effect of virtual reality based training on balance and risk of falling.
  • Investigate the effect of virtual reality based training on gait.
  • Investigate the effect of mental practice on balance and risk of falling.
  • Investigate the effect of mental practice on gait.
  • Compare between the effect of virtual reality based training and mental practice on balance and gait
Read the detailed description

Background: Multiple sclerosis affects the central integration of sensory afferents that causes disturbance of balance, postural control and gait. Exercise interventions performed through VR applications encourage participants to engage in challenging tasks that integrate motor and cognitive demands, enhance patients' sensory processing and integration systems and allows them to receive information feedback and improve the motivation of training. Mental Practice is a complex cognitive operation that is possible thanks to the use of sensory and perceptive processes that allow an individual to reactivate specific motor actions in the working memory.

Purpose: This study is conducted to Investigate the effect of virtual reality based training on balance and risk of falling, Investigate the effect of virtual reality based training on gait, Investigate the effect of mental practice on balance and risk of falling, Investigate the effect of mental practice on gait and to compare between the effect of virtual reality based training and mental practice on balance and gait.

Methods: Fifty four patients of both sexes with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS). The patients will be diagnosed as having RRMS based on careful clinical examination by neurologist and diagnosis will be confirmed by radiological investigations as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Patients will be recruited from the outpatient clinic of Faculty of Physical Therapy, Pharos University in Alexandria and private clinics. Patients in this study will be randomly divided into three groups.

  • Group (I) which will include 18 patients who will receive mental practice in addition to selected physical therapy .
  • Group (II) which will include 18 patients who will receive virtual reality based training in addition to selected physical therapy.
  • Group (III) which will include 18 patients who will receive selected physical therapy.

The treatment will be conducted 3 sessions per week for 6 weeks for 45 minutes.

Results: Data analysis with 2-way mixed Design MANOVA will be used to compare the groups for normally distributed data and Kruskal Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests will be used to compare the groups for non-parametric and not normally distributed data.

02

Conditions studied

  • Multiple Sclerosis

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Keywords

  • Multiple Sclerosis,
  • Mental Practice
  • Virtual Reality
  • Balance
  • Gait
03

In context

Multiple Sclerosis

3,264 studies on the registry are indexed under Multiple Sclerosis; 659 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 54 is close to the median of 50 across 2,201 interventional studies indexed under Multiple Sclerosis.

Browse Multiple Sclerosis studies →

Lead sponsor

Cairo University is the lead sponsor of 4,941 studies on the registry; 1,458 are open to participants now.

Of its 37 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 5 (14%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 35 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  1. Patients with RRMS.
  2. Patient's age will be range from 20 - 35 years..
  3. Patients are able to walk 10 meter with or without assistance.
  4. Patients with ≤ 6 according to an Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS).
  5. Patients are cognitively able to follow instructions.
  6. Patient's (BMI) will be ranged from 18.5 to 29.99 Kg/m2.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with MS relapse in the last 30 days.
  2. Visual impairments interfering with VR.
  3. Severe spasticity or orthopaedic deformity.
  4. Recent musculoskeletal injury.
  5. History of epilepsy or motion sickness with VR.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(1)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
54 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Mental Practice

    Other: Mental Practice

  • Experimental
    Virtual Reality

    Other: Virtual Reality

  • Experimental
    Selected Physical Therapy Program

    Other: Selected Physical Therapy Program

Interventions

  • OtherMental Practice

    Mental Practice is among the recommended strategies to enhance performance. MP is a symbolic exercise, involving repeated mental imagery in the absence of any visible muscle contraction.

  • OtherVirtual Reality

    The virtual environment presented via Head Mounted Display (HMD) has three-dimensional presentation and the panoramic view that covers the users' field of view, it facilitates immersion in the virtual and distraction from the real world

  • OtherSelected Physical Therapy Program

    Dual tasking and Task oriented training in static and dynamic forms

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Gait

    spatial, temporal and angular parameters as cadence, step length and range of motion of hip, knee and ankle will be measured using software analysis "Kinovea" Kinovea is a free, open-source 2D video analysis software. It does not generate a single composite "score". Instead, it measures quantitative biomechanical and kinematic metrics from recorded video.

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  2. Gait

    "10 minutes walk test" will be performed pre and post treatment by asking the patient to walk through a 12 meter walkway and calculate the time for 10 meters in tha walkway in two walking speeds( normal - fast) for 2 or 3 trials of each speed Speed \> 1.2 m/s: Normal / Community AmbulatorAble to safely cross street intersections and navigate crowded environments. 0.8 - 1.2 m/s: Limited Community Ambulator/ Able to walk outdoors independently 0.4 - 0.8 m/s: Household Ambulator/ Mostly restricted to indoor walking; requires assistance or equipment outdoors. \< 0.4 m/s: Severe Functional Limitation

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  3. Balance

    static and dynamic balance will be assessed using "Berg Balance Scale" The Berg Balance Scale (BBS) is a 14-item clinical assessment scale designed to measure static balance and dynamic functional mobility, Point Scale: Each of the 14 tasks is rated on a 0 to 4 ordinal scale based on safety, independence, time held, or distance reached, Scores are summed across all items for a overall score ranging from 0 to 56 points (higher scores reflect better balance and mobility).

    Time frame: 6 weeks

  4. Balance

    "Timed Up and Go" test giving numerical data pre and post treatment about balance and risk of falling Test is scored entirely by time (in seconds): Time \< 10 seconds: Normal / Completely IndependentFreely mobile; minimal to no fall risk 10 - 19 seconds: Mostly Independent, Reasonable balance and gait speed, generally low fall risk 20 - 29 seconds: Variable MobilityImpaired mobility, slower gait speed \> 30 seconds: Severely Impaired, high fall risk

    Time frame: 6 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Started Mar 2026 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Mar 2027, 12 months after the start.

Of 847 non-industry interventional studies with no phase under Multiple Sclerosis, half reached primary completion within 22 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 8 and three quarters within 43. This study's planned 12 months is below that.

Counting every sponsor, half of 869 studies reached it within 21 months; a quarter within 9 and three quarters within 43.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Mar 17, 2026
First posted
Nov 5, 2026
StartActual
Mar 1, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Mar 15, 2027
CompletionEst.
Mar 30, 2027
Last update
Nov 5, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
Registered
First appeared on the registry. No changes since
Nov 5, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Nov 5, 2026
    First appeared on the registry

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07918339
Lead sponsor
Cairo University
Responsible party
Ola Zaghloul Muhammad Ali Asal (Principal Investigator, Cairo University) — Principal investigator
First posted
Nov 5, 2026
Start date
Mar 1, 2026
Primary completion
Mar 15, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 30, 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 5, 2026

Study contacts

Ola Z Asal, BSc
Contact
ola25jan@gmail.com
00201023830508
Nagwa I Rehab, PhD
Contact
Nagwa1102010@yahoo.com
00201008124920
Nagwa I Rehab, PhD
study director · Cairo University
Rania M Tawfik, PhD
study director · Cairo University
Ebtesam M Fahmy, PhD
study director · Cairo University

Oversight

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

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