ArticlesTreadmill training with body weight support: Its effect on Parkinson's disease☆,☆☆,★,★★
Section snippets
Methods
Ten patients (5 men, 5 women) with Hoehn and Yahr stage 2.5 or 3 parkinsonism13 who were not demented (Mini-Mental Status Examination score greater than 2714) were enrolled in this study, which was approved by the local ethics committee. Demographic data are shown in table 1.Empty Cell Empty Cell Range Sex (male/female) 5/5 Age (yrs) 67.6 ± 1.6 56-79 Hoehn and Yahr stage (2.5/3) 3/7 Duration of PD (yrs) 4.2 ± 0.7 3-11 MMSE score 28.5 ± 0.3 27-30 Medications levodopa (mg) 225.0 ± 80.3 100-300
Results
All 10 patients completed the study. Total UPDRS scores before and after BWSTT were 31.6 ± 3.1 and 25.6 ± 2.9, respectively, and before and after PT were 29.1 ± 3.2 and 28.0 ± 3.2, respectively (table 2, fig 1).ANCOVA for the improvement of UPDRS scores showed a significant main effect for type of therapy (F(1,
Discussion
The effectiveness of neuropharmacologic treatment of Parkinson's disease, using dopaminergic drugs, attenuates with prolonged drug intake.16 Exercise is thought to be an important adjunctive therapy for parkinsonism.17 It may be beneficial to establish specific rehabilitation strategies for patients with Parkinson's disease, since effective training might improve their long-term functional prognosis by minimizing incremental dosage increases.
Our study has shown that treadmill training with body
Conclusion
Treadmill training with body weight support is effective especially in patients with moderate gait difficulty whose gait speed is more than 8 seconds per 10 meters and whose number of steps was more than 15 per 10-meter walk. These patients stated that they felt more comfortable when they walked with their bodies lifted by the examiner holding their belts than without their bodies lifted. This simple bedside test might be a marker to predict the effectiveness of BWSTT for parkinsonism. It is
References (24)
- et al.
Restoration of gait in nonambulatory hemiplegic patients by treadmill training with partial body-weight support
Arch Phys Med Rehabil
(1994) - et al.
“Mini-mental state.” A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician
J Psychiatr Res
(1975) - et al.
Leg muscle activation during gait in Parkinson's disease: adaptation and interlimb coordination
Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol
(1995) - et al.
Leg muscle activation during gait in Parkinson's disease: influence of body unloading
Electroenceph Clin Neurophysiol
(1997) - et al.
Physical therapy and Parkinson's disease: a controlled clinical trial
Neurology
(1994) - et al.
Evaluation of a modified inverted walking stick as a treatment for parkinsonians' freezing episodes
Mov Dis
(1990) - et al.
Effects of conventional and sensory-enhanced physiotherapy on disability of Parkinson's disease patients
Adv Neurol
(1996) - et al.
Rhythmic auditory stimulation in gait training for Parkinson's disease patients
Mov Dis
(1996) - et al.
Training improves the speed of aimed movements in Parkinson's disease
Brain
(1998) - et al.
Treadmill training with partial body-weight support as compared to physiotherapy in non-ambulatory hemiparetic patients
Stroke
(1995)
A new approach to retrain gait in stroke patients though body weight support and treadmill stimulation
Stroke
The effects of body weight support on the locomotor pattern of spastic paretic patients
Can J Neuro Sci
Cited by (0)
- ☆
Supported by a fund for comprehensive research on aging and health from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Japan.
- ☆☆
No commercial party having a direct financial interest in the results of the research supporting this article has or will confer a benefit upon the authors or upon any organization with which the authors are associated.
- ★
Reprint requests to Ichiro Miyai, MD, Department of Neurology, Toneyama National Hospital, 5-1-1, Toneyama, Toyonaka City, Osaka, 560-8552, Japan.
- ★★
Suppliers
- NO LABEL
a. Kyokko Bussan Co Ltd, 1-33-8, Hongo, Bunkyo, Tokyo, 113, Japan.
- NO LABEL
b. SPSS, Inc, 233 South Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606.