Partial Body Weight-Supported Treadmill Training in Patients With Parkinson Disease: Impact on Gait and Clinical Manifestation

Abstract Objective To evaluate the effect of conventional gait training (CGT) and partial weight-supported treadmill training (PWSTT) on gait and clinical manifestation. Design Prospective experimental research design. Setting Hospital. Participants Patients with idiopathic Parkinson disease (PD) (N=60; mean age, 58.15±8.7y) on stable dosage of dopaminomimetic drugs were randomly assigned into the 3 following groups (20 patients in each group): (1) nonexercising PD group, (2) CGT group, and (3) PWSTT group. Interventions The interventions included in the study were CGT and PWSTT. The sessions of the CGT and PWSTT groups were given in patient's self-reported best on status after regular medications. The interventions were given for 30min/d, 4d/wk, for 4 weeks (16 sessions). Main Outcome Measures Clinical severity was measured by the Unified Parkinson Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and its subscores. Gait was measured by 2 minutes of treadmill walking and the 10-m walk test. Outcome measures were evaluated in their best on status at baseline and after the second and fourth weeks. Results Four weeks of CGT and PWSTT gait training showed significant improvements of UPDRS scores, its subscores, and gait performance measures. Moreover, the effects of PWSTT were significantly better than CGT on most measures. Conclusions PWSTT is a promising intervention tool to improve the clinical and gait outcome measures in patients with PD.