{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T18:29:40Z","timestamp":1767378580293,"version":"3.48.0"},"reference-count":27,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1767312000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003196","name":"Ministero della Salute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["Ricerca Corrente"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Ricerca Corrente"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003196","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background and objectives<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Gait and balance impairments are common and disabling in People with Multiple Sclerosis (PwMS), significantly affecting mobility and quality of life. Although several clinical and instrumental tools exist to assess these functions, there is no consensus on the most appropriate measures for detecting changes at the clinical, movement quality, and neural levels. This study aims to establish expert consensus on the most appropriate tools for assessing gait and balance in PwMS to support an\u00a0individualized\u00a0approach to rehabilitation.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The process will begin with a focus group to gather initial feedback from a few experts, followed by a Delphi study consisting of iterative rounds of anonymous surveys with international experts to reach consensus on the most appropriate tools. The Delphi process will be conducted using an electronic platform to ensure anonymity and international participation. Experts will evaluate the proposed tools over several rounds until consensus is reached. The consensus threshold will be predefined, and statistical measures of agreement will guide the analysis.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Discussion and conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>By identifying a core set of outcome measures covering clinical, movement quality, and neural aspects, this study aims to address the current fragmentation in clinical practice and research in PwMS. This comprehensive approach will improve the assessment of gait and balance and facilitate the design of tailored rehabilitation interventions that meet the specific needs and recovery potential of each patient. In addition, the study will establish a consensus-based framework for gait and balance assessment in MS rehabilitation, promoting consistency across clinical and research settings. The results are expected to inform future studies on patient stratification, treatment effectiveness, and precision rehabilitation strategies, ultimately leading to improved functional outcomes and quality of care.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0337440","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]],"date-time":"2026-01-02T18:24:12Z","timestamp":1767378252000},"page":"e0337440","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Consensus on recommended evaluation tools in multiple sclerosis (CORE-MS): A Delphi study protocol on balance and gait assessment"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0002-4091-5611","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rebecca","family":"Cardini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Elisa","family":"Gervasoni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0747-831X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Marco","family":"Germanotta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Irene Giovanna","family":"Aprile","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Francesca","family":"Cecchi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chiara","family":"Pedrini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1383-6213","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Massimiliano","family":"Gobbo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1568-9069","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joel","family":"Pollet","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-1008-177X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Rosa","family":"Pullara","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Maria Pia","family":"Amato","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1811-102X","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Guido","family":"Pasquini","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Filippo","family":"Gerli","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Davide","family":"Cattaneo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0337440.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"237","DOI":"10.1016\/B978-0-444-63916-5.00015-X","article-title":"Balance, gait, and falls in multiple sclerosis","volume":"159","author":"MH Cameron","year":"2018","journal-title":"Handb Clin Neurol"},{"volume-title":"Impact of Walking Impairment in Multiple Sclerosis Perspectives of Patients and Care Partners","year":"n.d","author":"NG Larocca","key":"pone.0337440.ref002"},{"key":"pone.0337440.ref003","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"112","DOI":"10.1016\/j.msard.2018.07.013","article-title":"The disease burden of Multiple Sclerosis from the individual and population perspective: Which symptoms matter most?","volume":"25","author":"L Barin","year":"2018","journal-title":"Mult Scler Relat Disord"},{"key":"pone.0337440.ref004","unstructured":"David AC, Cristina de David A. 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