Objective: To investigate the effects of weekly group PT programs to reduce the progression of motor symptoms severity in PwPD

Background: The short-term benefits of physiotherapy(PT)for people with Parkinson’s disease(PwPD)are well-established,particularly in improving mobility,balance,and quality of life.Interventions such as gait training,strength exercises,and cognitive-motor rehabilitation techniques have consistently shown positive outcomes in reducing motor and non-motor symptoms.While there is strong evidence for immediate functional and symptomatic benefits,long-term longitudinal studies investigating the potential neuroprotective effects or the ability of PT to slow disease progression are still lacking

Method: This study was a longitudinal,prospective,non-randomized controlled trial.56 PwPD, in stage I-III according to H&Y classification, were allocated 29PwPD to the experimental(EG)and 27PwPD to control group(CG)based on their availability to participate in the intervention.The inclusion criteria were:(1)confirmed diagnosis of idiopathic PD,(2)use of dopaminergic medication,(3)ability to do exercises by themselves, and(4)ability to follow presential in-person weekly PT intervention.Exclusion criteria included(1)neurological disorders,uncorrected visual and auditory impairments, or dementia. The EG follows an in-person weekly PT program in groups of a maximum of 10participants.The weekly session lasted about 1hour.The participants were asked to perform exercises for mobility,balance,and gait.During the exercises, PT individually corrected the exercise’s performance.In case of participant showed some difficulty.The evaluations were performed by a blinded examiner before(EV1)and after(EV2)12months of intervention.The primary outcome was the severity of motor symptoms assessed by the UPDRS III,where higher scores indicate more severe symptoms.Secondary outcomes included global cognitive capacity,measured by the MoCA,and quality of life,assessed by the M-PDQ-8

Results: The results of a RM-ANOVA indicated a significant interaction between the factors group and evaluation(F(1,48)=5.47, p=.02, Effect Size=.07).Further analysis using the Tukey test revealed that only the CG showed a significant increase(worsening)in UPDRS III scores after 12months (p=.004)

Conclusion: The weekly group PT program effectively prevented worsening motor symptoms in people with PD  for 12months

« Back to 2025 International Congress

MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/long-term-benefits-of-weekly-group-physiotherapy-in-slowing-parkinsons-progressiona-12-month-non-randomized-controlled-trial/