Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the case history of an individual with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who used a home-based exercise programme for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has placed a restriction on physiotherapy clinical visits for supervised exercise. One solution could be to move towards a greater use of home-based exercise intervention programmes. Therefore, it is important that individuals with PD continue an exercise regime at home during the pandemic and also in normal situations.

Method: A 67 year-old woman was diagnosed with PD stage 2 on the modified Hoehn and Yahr (HY) scale in 2008. Currently, her HY stage was modified to 2.5 in 2019. Clinical assessments consisted of the Movement Disorders Society-Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS), the Functional Reach Test (FRT), the Functional Axial Rotation (FAR), the Time Up and Go Test (TUG), the 10 meter walk test (10MWT), and the Fall Efficacy Scale International (FES-I) questionnaire. Moreover, gait characteristics were assessed including foot rotation, step width, step length, step time, cadence, and gait speed, by using a 3m force distribution platform (FDM, Zebris Medical GmbH, Isny, Germany) at a sampling frequency of 100 Hz. The participant was assessed at 3 time points; at baseline (week 0), 10-weeks, and 1 year.

Results: After 12 months, her MDS-UPDRS motor scores decreased when compared to the baseline and 10 weeks, and gait characteristics at 12 months showed increased; degree of foot rotation, step length, cadence, and gait speed when compared to the baseline and 10 weeks. FAR and FRT were increased following the 10-week and further after a year in comparison to baseline home-based exercise. The TUG results showed further improvements between the end of the 10-week exercise and after one year. In addition, the FES-I showed a slight decreased when compared to the baseline and both the 10-week exercise regime and after one year.

Conclusion: This case study showed that improvements in clinical assessments and gait characteristics can continue over a 12-month period as a result of a home-based exercise programme. Therefore, home-based exercise programs should be encouraged with monitoring in individuals with PD, especially in individuals with gait disorders that show disease deterioration.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/effectiveness-of-a-home-based-exercise-program-on-gait-characteristics-in-an-individual-with-parkinsons-disease-over-a-one-year-period-a-case-study/