Led by Simone Birnbaum, a researcher at the Neuromuscular physiology and neuromuscular Evaluation Lab, in collaboration with the AFM-Telethon, the national MYaEX study involved 455 adults with autoimmune myasthenia gravis, which was stabilised by treatment in more than half of the cases:
- 53.6% of these participants reported exercising, which is defined in this study as a structured, planned, repetitive, voluntary and active activity aimed at improving or maintaining one’s health and physical fitness,
- health status and symptoms of the condition were the most commonly reported barrier to exercise by all participants (59% of non-exercisers and 39% of exercisers),
- 2/3 of non-exercisers stopped all physical activity following their diagnosis;
- the five factors most frequently cited by non-exercisers as facilitating exercise are specialised supervision/coaching (59 %) followed by improved health, knowledge about physical exercise, exercising with someone else or in a group, and accessibility (venue, equipment, cost).
These are all factors that should be addressed in order to integrate exercise as an integral part of the management of patients with myasthenia gravis.
