Building conceptualization and understanding of momentary fatigue and activity-related fatigability in daily life for people with multiple sclerosis (EMA-FAMS)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a progressive autoimmune and neurodegenerative disease. One of the major symptoms of MS is fatigue which interferes individually with daily life activities and declines performance during tasks. Measuring associations between fatigue and activity performance (i.e., activity-related fatigability) in real-life situations remains yet to be fully explored. The momentary fatigue and activity-related fatigability in daily life for people with multiple sclerosis (EMA-FAMS) study aims to conceptualize and evaluate momentary fatigue and activity-related fatigability in real-life situations for persons who struggle with fatigue in their everyday lives. The study will be organised by LAB University of Applied Sciences, Lahti, Finland. The findings of EMA-FAMS have the potential to discover new ways of understanding how fatigue and fatigability affect a person's daily living.

The EMA-FAMS project consists of three study phases.

The aim of the literature reviews (2024–2025) is to examine how real-time (momentary) fatigue and fatigability have been assessed and monitored in neurological conditions, and particularly how real-time assessment has been utilized to measure fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).

The aim of two qualitative studies (2025–2026) is to explore the lived experience of fatigue among individuals with MS and to explore physiotherapists’ perceptions of MS-related fatigue through individual interviews.

The aim of the case-control study (2026–2028) is to investigate fluctuations in fatigue and their associations with daily-life activity (fatigability) by combining ecological momentary assessment (EMA) diaries and objective activity data collected over a 7-day period. The study includes two groups: persons with MS (case) and individuals without MS or any other condition known to cause fatigue (control). Following the monitoring period, participants with MS will also have the opportunity to take part in an interview aimed at exploring their experiences of fatigue monitoring.