Objective: This pilot study was designed to evaluate Parkinson’s disease assistance dogs as a novel non-pharmacological therapy for gait impairment in Parkinson’s disease

Background: Gait impairment is a frequent and disabling symptom of Parkinson’s disease (PD), leading to falls with associated morbidity and mortality. Although PD management has improved, effective treatments for gait disturbance and postural instability are limited. Animal-assisted therapy (AAT) is a well-established non-pharmacological therapy for cerebral palsy, ataxia and other movement disorders in children and adults. A recent systematic review supported equine therapy as an effective treatment for PD-associated immobility [1].

Method: We paired three young-onset PD (YOPD) patients with Parkinson’s disease assistance dogs trained in gait stability. We followed symptom burden and patient experience over one year. We did clinical assessments at baseline, 3,6 and 12 months using the Movement Disorders Society – United Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale, New Freezing of Gait Scale, Non Motor Symptoms Scale, Beck’s Depression Inventory, Beck’s Anxiety Inventory, Parkinson’s Disease – Q39 and Montreal Cognitive Assessment. We did gait trials, at these time intervals, using accelerometers to objectively assess gait characteristics and freezing of gait. At one year we interviewed the 3 participants about their experience of working with a Parkinson’s disease assistance dog.

Results: We recruited 1 man and 2 women with an age range of 48-58 years. One patient had a compound heterozygous PARK2 mutation. The other two were gene-negative. All participants adhered to AAT for the entire study period. At one year all patients reported fewer and milder freezing episodes with improved quality of life as measured by PD-Q39.

Conclusion: These quantitative and qualitative metrics in this small pilot study support mobility dogs as an effective novel non-pharmacological therapy for PD-associated gait disturbance. Parkinson’s disease assistance dogs may be a novel treatment for difficult to treat PD-related gait impairment. It is associated with few adverse events and improved quality of life measures but requires significant patient and physician commitment and investment.

References: [1] Mittly V, Farkas-Kirov C, Zana Á, Szabó K, Ónodi-Szabó V, Purebl G. The effect of animal-assisted interventions on the course of neurological diseases: a systematic review. Syst Rev. 2023 Nov 25;12(1):224.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/parkinsons-disease-dogs-to-assist-gait-impairment-a-pilot-study-of-patient-experience-and-outcomes/