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Effects of Group Physical Therapy on Walking Speed in Patients With Parkinson Disease

NCT04187963 · Status: COMPLETED · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 60

Last updated 2019-12-05

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Parkinson disease is a progressive neurologic disorder characterized by motor impairments which alter the walking capacity, and lead to reduced walking speed, decreased stride length and increased double support time. Physical therapy interventions are an important part of the non-pharmacological treatment for Parkinson disease. The purpose of this study was to assess whether there is a different outcome regarding improvement of walking speed, when applying a physical therapy program in an individual or in a group manner.

A prospective, observational, cohort type study on 60 patients with Parkinson disease was carried out between November 2014 - July 2017, in the Clinical Rehabilitation Hospital in Cluj-Napoca, Cluj county, Romania. Patients were randomly divided into 2 groups, and were prescribed either individual (1 patient and 1 physical therapist) or group physical therapy (6 patients and 1 physical therapist). Treatment protocol included 10 sessions of physical therapy, in the same room setting and performed the same routine of exercises, except for the 3 breaks during the sessions in the group therapy for informal socialization. Walking speed was measured by two validated instruments, the 6-minute walk test and the 10-meter walk test, before and after treatment.

Patients with PD could benefit more from a group physical therapy program, as gait speed increased significantly. The group approach facilitates interactions and is cost-effective, as it requires only one therapist and more patients.

Conditions

  • Parkinson Disease

Interventions

OTHER

Physical therapy

The rehabilitation protocol for the IPT consisted of cardiovascular warm-up activities, stretching exercises, strengthening exercises, functional, gait and balance training, recreational games and ended with relaxation exercises. In addition, the GPT protocol followed the exact same pattern, except for 5-10 minute breaks for informal socialization between participants, at the beginning of the session, mid-session and at the end of the session. Also, both groups had access to external cues, which were applied during a variety of tasks and environmental situations, like gait initiation and termination, heel strike and push-off, sideways and backwards stepping, walking while dual tasking, and walking over various surfaces and long distances.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
50 Years
Max Age
70 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2014-11-30
Primary Completion
2017-07-31
Completion
2017-07-31

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Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT04187963 on ClinicalTrials.gov