OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of Cawthorne-Cooksey and Frenkel exercises on balance in patients with multiple sclerosis. DESIGN: It was a three-arm parallel randomized controlled trial study. SETTING: Outpatient clinic. SUBJECTS: Patients with multiple sclerosis. INTERVENTIONS: Subjects in the intervention groups completed a 12-week program consisted of Cawthorne-Cooksey or Frenkel exercises. The control group only received routine care. MAIN MEASURES: The outcome measure was the Berg Balance Scale. RESULTS: Seventy-two patients completed the study. At the end of the intervention, there was a statistically significant improvement in Berg Balance Scale in the Cawthorne-Cooksey group (n = 24) in comparison with the other two groups (p = 0.001). In the Frenkel group (n = 23), the improvement was statistically greater than the changes in the control group (n = 25), but it did not appear to be clinically significant. The Berg Balance Scale score increased to 8.9 in the Cawthorne-Cooksey group and 2.3 in the Frenkel group, while it decreased to 1.2 in the control group. When comparing inter-group changes, Berg Balance Scale showed significant improvements in favor of the Cawthorne-Cooksey group after the intervention (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that in comparison with Frenkel and the control groups, a program of Cawthorne-Cooksey exercise is more effective in improving balance in patients with multiple sclerosis.

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