Effect of Trunk Muscle Strengthening on Gait Pattern and Falls in Parkinson’s Disease.
J Rehabil Med-CC. 2019-01-01; 2(1): 1000003
DOI: 10.2340/20030711-1000003
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1. J Rehabil Med Clin Commun. 2019 Jan 28;2:1000003. doi: 10.2340/20030711-1000003.
eCollection 2019.
Effect of Trunk Muscle Strengthening on Gait Pattern and Falls in Parkinson’s
Disease.
Bestaven E(1)(2), Guillaud E(1)(2), De Sèze M(3)(4), Jerome A(1)(5)(6), Burbaud
P(1)(5)(6), Cazalets JR(1)(2), Guehl D(1)(5)(6).
Author information:
(1)University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France.
(2)CNRS, INCIA, UMR 5287, Bordeaux, France.
(3)CHU de Bordeaux, Service de medecine physique et reeducation, Bordeaux,
France.
(4)EA 4136 Handicap et systeme nerveux.
(5)CNRS, Institut des Maladies Neurodegeneratives, UMR 5293, and.
(6)CHU de Bordeaux, Service d’explorations fonctionnelles du systeme nerveux,
Bordeaux, France.
Background: The course of Parkinson’s disease is characterized by gait
disturbance and falls, which affect patients’ quality of life and engender high
healthcare costs. These factors are not greatly improved by levodopa therapy or
deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nuclei. Indeed, the symptoms may even
worsen with these treatment. Physiotherapy may be the most appropriate treatment
to reduce the incidence of falls in these cases; however, its benefits are
modest.
Objective: To assess the effectiveness of trunk muscle strengthening in 10
patients with Parkinson’s disease being treated with deep brain stimulation of
the subthalamic nuclei who are affected by gait disturbances and falls.
Method: A standardized physiotherapy programme centred on trunk muscle
strengthening was conducted. Its effectiveness was assessed using a clinical
approach combined with video-based motion analysis.
Results: After 4 weeks of trunk muscle strengthening, the gait item on the
Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS, part 3) together with several
gait kinematic parameters (step length, walking cycle duration variability, gait
speed) were significantly improved and the number of falls decreased.
Conclusion: These preliminary findings suggest that physiotherapy centred on
rachis mobility improves the quality of gait and reduces the number of falls in
patients with Parkinson’s disease who are being treated with deep brain
stimulation of the subthalamic nuclei. This is a potentially useful supplement to
the traditional physiotherapy approach, in addition to the pharmacological and
surgical treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
Journal Compilation © 2019 Foundation of Rehabilitation Information.
DOI: 10.2340/20030711-1000003
PMCID: PMC8206515
PMID: 34141146
Conflict of interest statement: The authors have no conflicts of interest to
declare.