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Early implementation of intended exercise improves quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients

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Abstract

Objective

Recent data have shown that regular exercise may ameliorate motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease (PD). This study aims to investigate how intended exercise impacts motor and non-movement symptoms of PD.

Methods

Eighty-eight patients were randomly assigned to an early exercise group (E-EG), late exercise group (L-EG), or a control group (CG) using a randomized delayed-start design. The E-EG carried out a rigorous, formal exercise program for 1 h, twice per week, for 18 months (May 2018–November 2019). The L-EG took part in the exercise program in the final 6–12 months of the study. We assessed outcomes using the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS), PDQ-39 Questionnaire, Line A test, Line B test, Nine-hole column test, 30 s squat and stand-up test (30 s SST), 10-m walk test (10mW), Balance Evaluation Systems Mini Test (MiniBESTest), FAB, and Time Up and Go Test (TUG).

Results

The patients with PD in the E-EG had lower performance in the UPDRS and Line B test compared to those in the L-EG at post-exercise (p < 0.05). Moreover, the patients with PD in the E-EG had much lower performance in the PDQ-39 and 9-Hole Peg test compared to those in the L-EG at post-exercise (p < 0.01).

Conclusion

Implementation of an exercise regimen improved the movement abilities and quality of life in PD patients, especially in the E-EG. This data supports the idea that intended exercise should be implemented as part of the treatment strategy for PD patients as early as possible.

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Abbreviations

PD:

Parkinson’s disease

E-EG:

Early-exercise group

L-EG:

Late-exercise group

CG:

Control group

UPDRS:

Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale

PDQ-39:

PDQ-39 Questionnaire

30 s SST:

30-S squat and stand-up test

10mW:

10-M walk test

MiniBESTest:

Balance Evaluation Systems Mini Test

TUG:

Time Up and Go Test

FAB:

Fullerton advanced balance scale

ADLs:

Activities of daily living

LSVT-LOUD:

Lee Silverman Voice Treatment-LOUD

H-Y scale:

Hoehn and Yahr scale

LEDD:

Levodopa-equivalent daily dose

fMRI:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging

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Acknowledgements

This study was carried out with the adequate understanding and consent of the patients. We would like to thank all participants and their families. We thank Prof. Yanhong Tai (Department of Neuropathology, The 5th Medical Center of Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China) for statistical assistance of the article. We also thank Prof. Yanchen Xie who provided professional writing services and partial materials.

Funding

This research received the grant from healthcare funding agency in the military scientific research institute (Military health-care project, No. 18BJZ34). The funding supported the design of the study, material collection, analysis, and interpretation of data and manuscript writing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, The 2nd Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Yang Yang, Jiarui Yao, Dan Liu, Weiping Wu & Zhenfu Wang

  2. Department of Neurosurgery, The 1st Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospitals, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Lifeng Chen

  3. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The 2nd Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28 Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing, China

    Na Wang, Dandan Liu & Tianyu Jiang

  4. Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The XiaoTang Mountain Hospital, Beijing, China

    Yuliang Wang

  5. The 2nd Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, 100853, Beijing, China

    Tianyu Jiang

Authors
  1. Yang Yang
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  2. Lifeng Chen
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  3. Jiarui Yao
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  4. Na Wang
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  7. Dan Liu
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  9. Tianyu Jiang
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  10. Zhenfu Wang
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Contributions

Data analysis: Yang Yang, Jiarui Yao, Dan Liu, and Na Wang. Investigation: Yang Yang, Jiarui Yao, Na Wang, Tianyu Jiang, Yuliang Wang, and Dandan Liu. Methodology: Lifeng Chen and Weiping Wu. Formal design: Weiping Wu, Lifeng Chen, Tianyu Jiang, and Zhenfu Wang. Writing—review and editing: Yang Yang and Jiarui Yao. The author Pro. Tianyu Jiang who works in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, has taken part in all the exercise training, and endorsed by funding in the project (No.18BJZ34). The author Pro. Lifeng Chen who works in the Department of Neurosurgery, has done a lot work including curation of the data, polish of the revision of our manuscript.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Tianyu Jiang or Zhenfu Wang.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee in General Hospital of Chinese PLA (IRB No. S2020-042–02).

Consent for publication.

The authors have consent for publication and have no conflict of interest to report.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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The authors have no conflict of interest to report. Our data availability statement has no conflict.

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These authors Yang Yang and Lifeng Chen have contributed equally to this work

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Yang, Y., Chen, L., Yao, J. et al. Early implementation of intended exercise improves quality of life in Parkinson’s disease patients. Neurol Sci 43, 1761–1767 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-021-05530-6

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