Therapeutic Approaches to Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis: Anna Kratz, PhD

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Discussing cognitive behavioral therapy for patients with MS, the associate professor of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation and research nonclinical psychologist at the University of Michigan Medicine mentioned different therapeutic options that can benefit this patient population. [WATCH TIME: 3 minutes]

WATCH TIME: 3 minutes

“Taking a multidisciplinary approach allows you to tweak across a bunch of different domains, potentially. If somebody is just on a medication, for instance, your options for tweaking their care over time are really limited. It's really about making care more patient-centered, [and] more tailored to every person at a given time.”

A multidisciplinary approach to multiple sclerosis (MS) treatment can generate benefits, and when addressing fatigue, both cognitive behavioral therapy and acceptance and commitment therapy can be particularly effective in the short- and long-term treatment plan. Anna Kratz, PhD, associate professor of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation and a research nonclinical psychologist, University of Michigan Medicine, spoke with NeurologyLive® on the integration of these therapies, which she noted many MS clinicians may be surprised to learn are available for their patients as a tool for symptom management.

Kratz further stressed the need to consider a variety of options for patients and identifying “what works for whom,” while also considering how treatment plans might change or need to be modified over the disease course. Precision health and tailored interventions for fatigue were the main focus of her presentation at the 2021 Annual Meeting of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers (CMSC), October 25-28, where she presented alongside her colleagues, Nora Fritz, PhD, PT, DPT, NCS, from Wayne State University, and Tiffany Braley, MD, MS, from the University of Michigan

For more coverage of CMSC 2021, click here.