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  Background and Objective: Multiple sclerosis is one of the most common chronic diseases in Central Nervous system.­ its chronic nature, absence of known cure and onset in young adults results in deteriorating effect on the heath of these people. This study was carried out to determine the effect of self-management program on Health Status of patients with multiple sclerosis (­MS).

  Material and Methods: ­ the participants of this pre-experimental study were 82 MS patients referring to Iranian society of MS in Tehran selected via convenience sampling. ­The data was collected by a demographic data sheet and the health status questionnaire, and analyzed by descriptive and inferential statistics.

  Results: Before intervention, the mean of health status subscales show that there is no significant difference between two groups of case and control, While after intervention and two months later(except of pain and social function) , there are significant differences in the health subscales of two groups (p≤0.05). Furthermore, in three times of measurement , there is a meaningful difference between two groups.

  Conclusion: ­­ the results show that the self-management program ­results in improving the health status of patients with multiple sclerosis therefore, application of this supportive method could be useful to empower the MS patients and help them to manage their problems.
   Key words: Multiple sclerosis, Self-Management, Health status

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  Background and Objective: Multiple Sclerosis ( MS) results in a range of unpleasant, unpredictable and physically disabling conditions. Thus, health promotion programmes are needed and Peer support groups have been shown to play a role in health promotion. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of peer groups on promoting physical health status in MS patients.

  Material and Methods: This before and after quasi-experimental study was conducted in Tehran MS Association (2010) on 33 patients participated in three peer support groups: 10 in male group, 11 in female group and 12 in mixed group. Eight weekly sessions, each taken 2 hours, were held. The patients were asked to fill out the Physical aspect of "Multiple Sclerosis Quality of Life Inventory" with 78 items (α=0.93)­ in pre of intervention, two weeks after it, post of intervention and one month later.

  Results :­ The Results show that peer support groups promote the physical health status (p=0.001). In each three groups, there is a significant difference in physical health status in patients from before of intervention until one month after (p=0.001). This change is increasing from start of intervention until the end of it­ and then is reducing up to one month after intervention.

  Conclusion: The results show that peer groups can promote the physical health of patients with MS therefore, with the benefits of peer group, it is possible to promote the quality of care for MS patients, which in turn enhances the patients′ quality of life.

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Background and objective: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, autoimmune, inflammatory nervous system disease. ‌It leads to the loss of myelin in the white matter of brain, spinal cord and optic nerves, and causes tiredness, muscle cramp, tremor, unsteady gait and some inability to move. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Pilates exercises and aquatic training on walking speed of women with MS.
Material and Methods: This clinical trial was conducted in 2012 on 45 women,‌ referring to MS clinic of Kashani Hospital in Isfahan. The subjects with the age of 20-40, physical disablement of 4.5 and disease duration of 8±2 years were randomly allocated to one of the three groups of Pilates exercises, aquatic training and control.‌ Training program for pilates and aquatic group was carried out in 12 weeks, three sessions per week, and each session lasted about one hour. Patients' walking speed was measured, using 25-foot walk test, before and after exercise. ‌The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics, covariance and paired comparisons of adjusted means.
Results: The adjusted mean of walking speed scores of the experimental groups are significantly different (P‌<‌0.05). ‌While, the comparison of paired means between the two groups was not significant.
Conclusion: Because of increased effect on walking speed, we recommend Pilates exercises and aquatic training as a complementary treatment alongside medicinal treatments for MS patients.