Researchers awarded $2.8M NIH grant to address gaps in multiple sclerosis exercise programs for Hispanic adults 

UTHealth Houston School of Public Health researchers were awarded $2.8 million by the National Institute of Health, National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities to develop a culturally tailored exercise program for Hispanic adults with multiple sclerosis (MS). 

The project, led by Assistant Professor Stephanie Silveira, PhD, will modify an existing MS exercise training intervention, and develop a culturally tailored program for Hispanic adults with MS. An estimated 2.9 million people worldwide live with MS, an autoimmune disease that affects the brain, spinal cord, and optic nerves, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. For patients living with MS, exercise training is established as a safe and effective second-line therapy for improving MS symptoms and slowing disease progression; however, Hispanic adults are virtually absent from exercise training literature.

“Members of our team conducted a literature review on exercise training programs for persons with MS, and not a single randomized controlled trial identified a participant as Hispanic,” said Silveira with the Department of Management, Policy, and Community Health. “That’s a huge gap in the literature.” 

This is particularly concerning, given that studies have shown Hispanic individuals with MS are at higher risk of developing mobility disability and cognitive dysfunction. 

Using the ‘Guidelines for Exercise in MS (GEMS)’ model, a foundational exercise training program, researchers and a group of community advisory members will modify the program to better meet the needs of Hispanic adults with MS. By updating the current recommended practice of ‘GEMS’, which recommends aerobic and resistance exercise, researchers and advisors will tailor this exercise training to met the unique needs of this subpopulation. Through input from adults with MS and community stakeholders in Houston, advisory board members will aid in reviewing newsletters, manuals, and delivery of the remote exercise training program to best fit health behavior change needs tied to Hispanic values, beliefs, and language. Researchers will then test the effectiveness of the culturally responsive program with a group of Hispanic adults living with MS in the Greater Houston Area. 

Participants will complete self-reported assessments, including a 12-item MS Walking Scale, a tool used to measure the impact of MS on an individual’s walking ability. Assessments will be conducted at enrollment, 16 weeks post-intervention, and at 32 weeks of follow-up. The project will include collaborations with research experts in exercise science, psychology, health disparities, implementation science, and biostatistics from multiple institutions such as UTHealth Houston, UT Southwestern, and University of Illinois Chicago. Additional UTHealth Houston co-investigators include Maria Fernandez, PhD, Vice President for Population Health and Implementation Science, professor and Lorne Bain Chair in Public Health and Medicine at the School of Public Health; and Jia Lin, MD, MPH, assistant professor at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston.