Exercise trials suggest a small anxiety benefit in multiple sclerosis
Pooled results favored exercise over inactive controls, but every trial had a high risk of bias and none made anxiety its primary outcome.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Exercise was associated with a small improvement in anxiety symptoms compared with inactive controls at the end of randomized trials involving people with multiple sclerosis. Confidence in that result is limited because participants knew their treatment assignment and reported their own symptoms. The abstract does not establish how noticeable or lasting the average improvement was.
All trials were rated at high risk of bias because anxiety was self-reported by unblinded participants. Few trials were preregistered, and none treated anxiety as the primary outcome.
What researchers found
Anxiety symptoms after intervention
The pooled standardized mean difference favored exercise over inactive controls. Trial lengths are not reported in the abstract; this is a standardized score difference, not a percentage improvement.
What the pooled score means
The analysis combined anxiety symptom results using a standardized scale. The authors characterized the average effect as small, but the abstract does not translate it into a change on any particular anxiety questionnaire.
Why reporting affects confidence
Knowing the assigned intervention can influence self-reported outcomes, which informed the review's bias assessment. Incomplete reporting of intervention development also limits understanding of how the exercise programs were designed.
The original publication
The effect of exercise interventions on symptoms of anxiety in persons with multiple sclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Learmonth YC, Hawkins MR, Karahalios A et al.
Mult Scler Relat Disord · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 40914004
- Record checked
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