A step towards understanding fatigue and the cost of walking in persons with multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis

Earlier research showed that fatigue has a big impact on the daily lives of persons with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), but was unclear whether their walking difficulties contributed to elevated levels of fatigue. This thesis investigates whether the feeling of fatigue is accompanied by walking difficulties resulting in an increased energy demand during walking in these individuals. Although fatigue was elevated in both persons with MS and RA, the most energy-efficient walking speed is similar to control subjects. While persons with RA walk at slower and more energy-demanding self-selected speeds, the walking characteristics were not different from control subjects. Only persons with MS required a higher amount of energy during walking, compared to control subjects but their walking characteristics did not change when subjected to a fatigue-induced walking test.