Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Patterns Across Weekdays and Weekend Days in Youth With Multiple Sclerosis and Controls

E Morghen Sikes; Renisha Iruthayanathan; Stephanie A Grover; Effie Viguiliouk; Zehra Kamani; Samantha Stephens; Tara Berenbaum; Austin Noguera; Neda Ebrahimi; Julia O'Mahony; Indra Narang; Shelly K Weiss; Marcia Finlayson; Brenda Banwell; Ruth Ann Marrie; E Ann Yeh; Robert W Motl

doi:10.7224/1537-2073.2020-056

Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Patterns Across Weekdays and Weekend Days in Youth With Multiple Sclerosis and Controls

Int J MS Care. 2022 Jan-Feb;24(1):8-12. doi: 10.7224/1537-2073.2020-056. Epub 2021 May 6.

Authors

E Morghen Sikes¹, Renisha Iruthayanathan², Stephanie A Grover², Effie Viguiliouk², Zehra Kamani², Samantha Stephens², Tara Berenbaum², Austin Noguera², Neda Ebrahimi², Julia O'Mahony², Indra Narang^{3

4}, Shelly K Weiss^{2

5

6}, Marcia Finlayson⁷, Brenda Banwell⁸, Ruth Ann Marrie⁹, E Ann Yeh^{2

5

6}, Robert W Motl¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Therapy, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA (EMS [now at Shenandoah University], RWM).
² Department of Neurosciences and Mental Health (RI, SAG, EV, ZK, SS, TB, AN, NE, JO, SKW, EAY), Division of Respiratory Medicine, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
³ Department of Pediatrics (IN), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁴ University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada (IN).
⁵ Division of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics (SKW, EAY), Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, ON, Canada.
⁶ Department of Pediatrics (Neurology), University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada (SKW, EAY).
⁷ School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada (MF).
⁸ Division of Child Neurology, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, USA (BB).
⁹ Departments of Medicine and Community Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada (RAM).

Abstract

Background: This study quantified and compared weekday and weekend patterns of device-measured physical activity (PA) and sedentary behavior between youth with pediatric multiple sclerosis (MS) and controls for the purpose of informing future PA behavior change interventions.

Methods: Participant data were obtained from 3 ongoing observational studies, and the sample included 40 participants with pediatric MS and 41 controls. Light PA (LPA), moderate to vigorous PA (MVPA), and sedentary behavior data were collected using activity monitors (ActiGraph LLC) over 1 week. The main analysis involved a 2-way mixed factor analysis of variance with group as a between-subjects factor (pediatric MS vs control) and day as a within-subjects factor (weekday vs weekend day).

Results: There was no group by day interaction from the analysis of variance for percentage of activity monitor wear time spent in LPA, MVPA, or sedentary behavior. There was no effect of group for LPA, MVPA, or sedentary behavior. There was an effect of day of week on percentage of day spent in LPA, MVPA, and sedentary behavior.

Conclusions: These results suggest that youth with pediatric MS and controls were less physically active and more sedentary on weekends than on weekdays, but there were no differences between groups in PA and sedentary behavior overall or by day of the week. Physical activity interventions may be more successful by initially targeting weekend day activity.

Keywords: Physical activity; exercise; pediatric multiple sclerosis; sedentary behavior.