MS and exercise study. A study published in Clinical Kinesiology (Spring 1995) was designed to examine the metabolic and cardiopulmonary responses during exercise of persons diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS).

Leg-cycling and arm-cranking exercises were performed by 10 MS patients and 10 healthy (non-MS) control subjects.

Each member of the control group was selected on the basis of gender, age, height, and weight to match (as closely as possible) with one member of the MS group.

Consequently, the researchers compared the MS and non-MS groups by matched-pairs t-tests on such outcome variables as oxygen uptake, carbon dioxide output, and peak aerobic power. The data on the matching variables MS Subjects Non-MS Subjects Matched Pair Gender Age (years) Height (cm) Weight (kg) Gender Age (years) Height (cm) Weight (kg)
1 M 48 171.0 80.8 M 45 173.0 76.3 2 F 34 158.5 75.0 F 34 158.0 75.6 3 F 34 167.6 55.5 F 34 164.5 57.7 4 M 38 167.0 71.3 M 34 161.3 70.0 5 M 45 182.5 90.9 M 39 179.0 96.0 6 F 42 166.0 72.4 F 42 167.0 77.8 7 M 32 172.0 70.5 M 34 165.8 74.7 8 F 35 166.5 55.3 F 43 165.1 71.4 9 F 33 166.5 57.9 F 31 170.1 60.4 10 F 46 175.0 79.9 F 43 175.0 77.9 used in the experiment are shown in the table above. Have the researchers successfully matched the MS and non-MS subjects?