Jump assessment on a force plate—an approach to quantify subtle lower limb neuromuscular deficits in people with multiple sclerosis

Neuromuscular impairments are common in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS), often beginning subclinically in early disease stages and contributing to long-term disability. Traditional clinical tools such as the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), however, lack sensitivity for detecting subtle neuromuscular dysfunction. In recent years, jump assessment has emerged as a digital, performance-based approach to evaluate lower-limb neuromuscular function in pwMS. Vertical jump tests on a force plate provide objective, quantifiable markers of strength, coordination, and balance, allowing detection of early motor deficits even in pwMS with minimal disability and enabling functional phenotyping to guide individualized neurorehabilitation strategies. In this narrative review, we summarize current applications and future perspectives of jump assessment in multiple sclerosis and present the structured, adaptive jump protocol which combines countermovement jumps (CMJ), single-leg CMJ (SLCMJ), and the 10-s hop test (10SHT). Overall, jump assessment represents a promising approach for detecting early neuromuscular deficits and improving the long-term care of pwMS.