Title: Leveraging Occupational Therapy in Acute Care to Address Health Management for Adults with Multiple Sclerosis 

Author:
Jayme Ober, OTD, OTR/L, MSCS

JACOT Volume 7, Issue 1

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With over 2.5 million people in the world diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS) it is likely that acute care occupational therapists will see adults admitted to the hospital with an exacerbation of MS (Quinn & Hynes, 2021). A diagnosis of “clinically isolated syndrome” (CIS) may also be seen to denote the first clinical episode of MS. MS is a recurrent or progressive, unpredictable, inflammatory neurologic disease, which causes chronic demyelination (Hamby, 2024). Symptoms of CIS or an exacerbation of MS can range from mild to severe, affecting anything controlled by the brain, spinal cord, or optic nerves (National Multiple Sclerosis Society, n.d.). Clients referred to occupational therapy (OT) may be experiencing a minor or major loss of function, from visual disturbances to debilitating weakness. The initial medical treatment for an exacerbation may include a course of high-dose steroids for 3–5 days, and there are multiple medications available for treatment to prevent or lessen the severity of exacerbations (Hamby, 2024). Depending on the pattern of MS, remission may involve slight or total resolution of symptoms (Schultz-Krohn & Long, 2025). OT may also be consulted for clients with MS that are hospitalized with common comorbid and secondary conditions, such as pneumonia, urinary tract infection (UTI), and septicemia (Asemota et al., 2023).