Effects of 6-month, Multimodal Exercise Program on Clinical and Gait Parameters of Patients with Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study

Abstract

This pilot study aimed to identify the effects of a 6-month, multimodal exercise program on clinical and gait parameters in patients with Parkinson's disease. Two groups of participants were enrolled in the study: Trained Group (TG) and Control Group (CG). Individuals in the TG exercised three times a week for 24 weeks (in a multimodal exercise program), while the CG participants maintained their regular activity level. Participants in both the TG and the CG were assessed at pre- and posttest by clinical rates and the spatiotemporal parameters of self-paced walking. The two groups were not significantly different in demographic, clinical, and gait data at baseline. There were no significant differences between groups for clinical data at posttest. The purposed multimodal exercise program has found improvement in some kinematic gait parameters for the TG. Further study in the form of randomized controlled trial would be required to establish effectiveness of the intervention.

Effects of physical exercise on articular range of motion of the lower limb in the Parkinson's disease individuals

“…In general, the results confirmed the hypothesis of the study, indicating that after eight months of physical exercises there is an improvement in the articular range of motion in patients with PD. This finding corroborates studies which verified the effect of long-term physical exercises 6,8,11 , indicating that the physical exercise is important in controlling the progression of PD. However, the effect of physical exercises on articular range of motion seems not to be influenced by gender and by the severity of the PD, indicating that the effects are independent from these aspects.…”

“…The improvement in the articular range of motion of ankle dorsiflexion may lead to greater control of the movement, especially in gait in order to absorb the load during walking and in posture for balance control, benefiting patients in their mobility 29 . Furthermore, the exercises were able to reverse the progression of the PD, which tends to increase in around 10% a year 26 , as indicated by the maintenance of the clinical parameters and confirming previous studies 6 . With this, it may be suggested that the severity and progression of the proposed physical exercise program were appropriated in order to improve the articular range of motion and to control the progression of the PD.…”

“…The drug intervention is still the main form of PD treatment 4 . However, recent researches indicate the effectiveness of exercise in the control of compromise and progression of the PD [5][6][7][8] . However, it is difficult to establish the components which should be included in an exercise program for this population 7,8 .…”

“…Studies of short and long duration have shown benefits of exercise in PD functional capacity [8][9][10][11] , locomotion 5,6 , postural control 12,13 and cognitive functions 14,15 . However, little is known about the effects of exercise on the articular range of motion in patients with PD.…”

Long-Term Multimodal Exercise Program Enhances Mobility of Patients with Parkinson’s Disease

“…In this way, the advantages of a multimodal long-lasting training program include: beyond the advantages of specific methods (improvement of strength, flexibility, coordination, etc.) these programs are also focused on patients' motor impairments; they have a high adherence; are feasible; promote an active-life style for more lasting time [10,[19][20][21]. Indeed our group had already been successful to demonstrate the benefits of long-lasting training program in gait parameters, executive functions, and balance [10,[19][20][21].…”