Upper Limb Interactive Weightless Technology-Aided Intervention and Assessment Picks Out Motor Skills Improvement in Parkinson's Disease: A Pilot Study

Biomechanical measures of balance after balance-based exergaming training dedicated for patients with Parkinson's disease

INTRODUCTION

Although previous studies have contributed to our understanding of the effects of implementing the virtual reality as a rehabilitation tool in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), additional research is needed to examine the effects of applying balance-based exergaming training on quantitative biomechanical measures of balance.

RESEARCH QUESTION

To investigate the effects of balance-based conventional and exergaming training on posture parameters.

METHODS

The study involved 24 patients with PD (Hoehn and Yahr stages II-III).Participants underwent twelve training sessions during the 4-week training period. The experimental group (n=12) was trained with a custom-made exergaming balance based training system, the control group (n=12) underwent a conventional balance training. All objective outcomes were measured before intervention and the day after completion of training program. Postural stability was assessed using the quiet standing test, dynamic balance was assessed using limits of stability (LOS) and functional balance (FBT) tests.

RESULTS

After training, participants in both groups showed significantly better results in static balance performance. However, only exergaming training significantly improved LOS performance (higher values of Range of forward lean (p = 0.039, d_z = 0.67) and leaning rate (p=0.007, d_z=0.96). Also FBT test improved significantly only in experimental group (decrease in time to target hit (p=0.02, d_z=0.76) and significant increase of average COP velocity (p=0.008, d_z=0.93).

CONCLUSION

This study found that exergaming training created for patients with PD enhanced static and dynamic balance whereas conventional balance training improved static balance. Posturography is sensitive enough to reveal differential effects of training for both groups. These findings support the inclusion of our exergaming training in the exercise program for participants with PD.

Rehabilitation of older people with Parkinson's disease: an innovative protocol for RCT study to evaluate the potential of robotic-based technologies

Background

Parkinson’s disease is one of the most frequent causes of disability among the older adults. It is a chronic-progressive neuro-degenerative disease, characterized by several motor disorders. Balance disorders are a symptom that involves the body axis and do not respond to dopaminergic therapy used in Parkinson’s disease. Therefore, physiotherapy becomes an important intervention for the management of motor disorders. Originally, these rehabilitative approaches were based on empirical experiences, but several scientific evidences suggests that neuronal plasticity is exercise-dependent. In this context, robotic rehabilitation plays an important role because it allows to perform task-oriented exercises and to increase the number of repetitions and their intensity. This protocol study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of robotic-based intervention of the older adults with Parkinson’s disease, designed to improve the gait and to reduce the risk of falling.

Methods

This study is a single-blinded randomized controlled trial. The primary outcomes are: risk of falling, gait performance and fear of falling measured through Performance-Oriented Mobility Assessment (POMA), instrumental gait analysis and Short Falls Efficacy Scale – International (FES-I), respectively. One hundred ninety-five patients with PD will be recruited and randomly divided into three groups, to receive a traditional rehabilitation program or a robotic rehabilitation using Tymo system or Walker View in addition to the traditional therapy. Assessments will be performed at baseline, at the end of treatment and 6 months, 1 year and 2 years from the end of the treatment. A 10-treatment session will be conducted, divided into 2 training sessions per week, for 5 weeks. The control group will perform traditional therapy sessions lasting 50 min. The technological intervention group will carry out 30 min of traditional therapy and 20 min of treatment with a robotic system.

Discussion

The final goals of the present study are to propose a new approach in the PD rehabilitation, focused on the use of robotic device, and to check the results not only at the end of the treatment but also in the long term.

Trial registration

NCT04087031, registration date September 12, 2019.