Land Plus Aquatic Therapy Versus Land-Based Rehabilitation Alone for the Treatment of Balance Dysfunction in Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Controlled Study With 6-Month Follow-Up

Subjective and psychological well-being in Parkinson's Disease: A systematic review

“…47 The integration of these 2 ingredients may instill a stronger sense of determination and of autonomy together with the experience of positive emotions in participants with PD. Thus, rehabilitation programs in PD are essentials in maintaining motor and musculoskeletal functioning, in decelerating the disease progress, 82,83 but they also preserve LS, work, and social engagement of patients with PD. Furthermore, socializing and spending time with other people with the same illness was found to help to normalize the symptoms and to foster more optimistic expectations for the future.…”

Wearable Biofeedback Suit to Promote and Monitor Aquatic Exercises: A Feasibility Study

“…Given that biofeedback allows faster and more effective recovery, with a pronounced proprioceptive nuance, the applications of wearable biofeedback suit in human rehabilitation can be envisaged in: orthopedic and rheumatic diseases [38], accompanied by general symptomatology -subacute and chronic pain syndromes, reduction of ROM, post-lesion recovery of soft tissue or bone and postoperative recovery [39]; scoliosis and pain management, especially in back pain; sports traumatology and spine trauma. With neurological diseases -where both biofeedback and the microgravity condition of water immersion (which allows movement even in the presence of significant deficits of motor units recruitment) find precise indications, wearable biofeedback suit would, for example, allow biofeedback-assisted aquatic step training in post-stroke [40] and hemiplegic patients [41], in para and tetraplegia and in Parkinson's disease [42], [43]. Patients whose residual motor capacities do not allow "dry" rehabilitation programs lose the potential advantages of biofeedback.…”

Is Aquatic Therapy Optimally Prescribed for Parkinson’s Disease? A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Findings from high quality studies on people with mild to moderate PD that implemented between three [31] and five sessions per week [28,63,64] reported statistically greater improvements in balance, [28,31,63,64] functional mobility, health related quality of life, motor disability [63] and gait [64] in the aquatic therapy group than land-based physiotherapy. This suggests that in order to gain clinically meaningful improvements in movement and wellbeing for PD, a minimum of three sessions per week ought to be conducted.…”

“…The median score for methodological quality using the PEDro scale was seven out of ten (IQR 7,7). Eight of the 11 included studies scored between seven and eight implying moderate quality, [28][29][30][31][62][63][64][65] with a high risk of bias recorded for blinding of therapists and subjects, and intention to treat analysis (Table II).…”

“…[27] Preliminary reports have shown favorable results for movement slowness, dystonia, balance, pain, quality of life and physical function. [28][29][30][31][32] Immersion in water affords people with PD an alternative environment in which to exercise. [27] Water's physical properties of buoyancy, hydrostatic pressure and drags forces provide sensory feedback that may help to regulate motor output.…”