A comparison between aquatic and land-based physical exercise on postural sway and quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease: a randomized controlled pilot study

Purpose The objective of this pilot study was to compare the effects of water-based exercise to conventional land-based exercise on postural sway and quality of life in people with Parkinson’s disease. Methods Twenty people (male) with Parkinson’s disease were randomly divided into two groups of ten. Both groups carried out an 8-week (three sessions per week) physical exercise protocol. Postural sway and quality-of-life parameters of two groups were measured in pre- and post-intervention sessions. Results The between-group analyses indicate a greater reduction and thus improvement in the mean velocity of sway ( p = 0.01) and an increase in the quality-of-life scores ( p