Original articleSix Weeks of Intensive Treadmill Training Improves Gait and Quality of Life in Patients With Parkinson’s Disease: A Pilot Study
Section snippets
Participants
In this study, we included 9 patients with idiopathic PD who were able to ambulate independently. Subjects who met the inclusion criteria were recruited from the Movement Disorders Unit at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, using a convenience sample of mild to moderate PD patients. All patients were free of serious comorbidities, other than PD (eg, dementia, unstable cardiovascular disease [CVD], rheumatologic disease, orthopedic disturbances, or pain while walking) or acute illness that
Patient Characteristics
Demographic and clinical characteristics of the 9 patients at baseline are summarized in table 1. Disease severity of the patients was mild to moderate, and the Hoehn and Yahr stages ranged from 1.5 to 3. Two patients experienced motor response fluctuations. Eight patients were on levodopa or dopamine agonist therapy, and 1 patient was treated with amantadine and selegiline.
Short-Term Effects
Table 2 compares baseline values with those measured a few days after completion of 6 weeks of intensive treadmill
Discussion
This study examined the possibility that a treadmill may be used as an adjunct treatment to complement PT, to improve QOL, physical performance, and enhance gait stability in PD patients. We focused on these issues because PD is a classic example of a motor disorder that impacts on QOL. With this intervention, not only were positive effects seen immediately, but a carryover effect was observed 4 weeks later for many measures. Furthermore, positive effects beyond gait were seen in the patients’
Conclusions
In PD, there appears to be no need to unload the patient, unless specific safety issues arise. Based on our experience, we also suggest conducting all training sessions when the PD patient is in the “on” state. Still, one has to remember that due to the relatively high cost of this apparatus, the need for a relatively large facility and increased time commitment, a treadmill training program based on a medical treadmill (with a safety harness) may not be practical for everyone or for everyday
Acknowledgment
We thank Shelli Ehrlich for her invaluable assistance in data collection.
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2021, Archives of Physical Medicine and RehabilitationCitation Excerpt :It has been suggested that to improve the motor component, acoustic, visual, and somatosensory stimuli should be included within treatment to help patients initiate and maintain a rhythmic motor task such as walking.47-50 Additionally, it seems that increasing the intensity of gait training with BWS could improve the clinical severity and some gait parameters.19,43,45 The results of the review and meta-analysis show a positive effect of BWS interventions on balance.
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